Snohomish County switching to mail-in elections

The new Democratic majority on the Snohomish County Council wasted little time in approving a switch to all-mail elections.

The council approved the measure Wednesday with a 3-2 vote along party lines. Last year's Republican-led council repeatedly voted against making the change.

Mail-only elections will begin during the Sept. 19 primary, and county election officers will be working between now and then to alert voters to changes.

Council Chairman Kirke Sievers and the council's two other Democrats, Dave Gossett and new member Dave Somers, voted to change the system. The two Republicans, Gary Nelson and John Koster, opposed the measure.

With about 352,000 registered voters, Snohomish County is the largest county in the state to adopt all-mail elections.

Elections this spring still will include poll voting, said the county's elections manager, Carolyn Diepenbrock. A number of levy measures throughout the county are expected to be on spring ballots.

But the elections office plans to send out a countywide mailer soon, informing registered voters of the approved changes and encouraging them to update their addresses.

The Democrats' main reason for switching to an all-mail system was financial savings. Under new state and federal regulations, the county would have needed to purchase backup equipment for its electronic voting machines: a one-time $1.3 million purchase and $650,000 annual maintenance cost.

With only 38 percent of the county's registered voters using the polls, Democrats argued it made little sense to spend the money, especially since trends show the number of mail voters increasing over time.

Republicans have said they fear there is potential for mail fraud and believe a voter should have the right to choose whether to vote by mail or at the polls.

The move will not totally eliminate precinct voting. To accommodate disabled voters, who must be provided a choice under federal law, the county courthouse will be open on election days with approved voting machines. The county also will operate a ballot-collection center in each of the county's cities for voters who choose not to mail their ballot, Diepenbrock said.

Snohomish County's switch to all-mail ballots leaves only two counties in the state whose officials have firmly said they do not wish to consider a mail-only option: Pierce and Klickitat. All others either have adopted all-mail voting or are considering the switch.

Even King County, with the most registered voters in the state, will consider all-mail elections in February. More than 70 percent of voters there cast absentee ballots in November's general election.

It's unlikely, however, that Snohomish County's switch will pressure King County leaders to follow suit.

"What's unique about us is our size and the number of ballots we have to count," said Carolyn Duncan, spokeswoman for King County Executive Ron Sims. "Still, we already have some strong support from key council members."

While the state Legislature did not mandate a statewide switch to all-mail voting, it did open the door last year for counties to consider the end of poll voting.

"As a result, Ron Sims wants to plan for that option," Duncan said.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com