3 election workers suspended in King County special-election foul-up

Three King County election employees were placed on paid administrative leave yesterday as the county announced it was resending ballots to 915 out-of-state voters in an upcoming election because of yet another foul-up.

County Executive Ron Sims announced both actions after learning of complaints from eight voters who said they had received absentee-ballot packets without a ballot enclosed.

Replacement packets will be mailed today to all military, out-of-state and overseas voters in an April 26 levy election for Valley Medical Center in Renton.

The suspension of three employees, including at least one supervisor, came three days after Sims and his elections chief, Dean Logan, were thrown into crisis by the revelation that 93 valid absentee ballots weren't counted in the tight governor's election in November.

The ballots were found among empty absentee-ballot envelopes during a search that ended Saturday.

Sims, who has generally kept a low profile during months of controversy over King County's handling of the election, took center stage yesterday as he talked about a "no-tolerance" policy on sloppy work in the election office.

Republicans and Democrats alike on the County Council were furious that the Democratic administration didn't inform them about the uncounted ballots before they learned of the mistake in the press.

Officials believe the suspended workers were involved both in the failure to count all ballots in the November election and in last week's hospital-district mailing. The workers' names were not released.

Additional workers may face disciplinary action after an investigation, Sims said yesterday. As to those already placed on leave, he said, "They are entitled to hearings before they are terminated."

Sims said Logan, who was on a family trip yesterday, made the decision to place the employees on leave, and Sims agreed. The two men had grown "weary and tired" of serious mistakes by employees, Sims said.

"We're saying when the standard operating procedures of King County Records and Elections are not followed, I have a no-tolerance position, and I've conveyed that. And Dean himself has concurred in that," Sims said.

Logan announced Friday he was reassigning the staff of the mail-ballot facility to other jobs pending an investigation into the failure to count the 93 ballots in the Nov. 2 election.

Sims' spokeswoman Carolyn Duncan said her boss stands by his statement Monday that he has "full faith and confidence" in Logan.

County Council Chairman Larry Phillips, D-Seattle, last night called the personnel action "part of the ongoing effort to arrest problems there. It sounds like it's the appropriate thing to do."

But County Councilman Reagan Dunn, R-Bellevue, urged Sims "to stop protecting Dean Logan. ... Things have gotten out of control in that department, and the buck stops at the top."

The election has been marred by a series of mishaps, most notably the failure to count hundreds of valid ballots during the first two counts in the governor's race.

The news from Sims' office yesterday overshadowed an internal report that said election workers knew in November that they had lost track of 86 ballots — now known to be 93 — even while managers were publicly reporting they had accounted for every single vote. It's unknown if any managers were aware of the discrepancy.

The discrepancy wasn't reported to the King County Canvassing Board, which is responsible for certifying election results. The official Mail Ballot Summary Report to the board showed no discrepancy.

The internal report, written by assistant elections superintendent Garth Fell, said workers in November found an unexplained shortage of 48 ballots in one batch of absentee ballots, 27 in another and four in a third before election results were certified. Smaller discrepancies were found in other batches.

Election staffers tried to resolve the 86-vote discrepancy by recounting some batches of ballots twice. Elections Superintendent Bill Huennekens said he doesn't know if workers looked for uncounted ballots at the time.

Secretary of State Sam Reed said it is a "fundamental" election procedure to look for uncounted ballots when the number of ballots counted is smaller than the number of ballots received.

Reed said his office will ask King County for more information about its auditing of ballots. As for the mail-ballot report showing every ballot accounted for despite the 86-vote discrepancy, he said, "It makes me very curious."

King County isn't the only county with uncounted ballots. Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy said Monday "a small number" of ballots weren't counted there.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com