Voters get reminder: Ballot has a flip side

Kent School District Superintendent Barbara Grohe knew she had a problem when her dinner guests proudly reported they had voted for "both" school tax measures on their absentee ballots.

The guests didn't realize there was a third issue on the other side of their ballots: a $106 million bond issue to build two elementary schools and repair other buildings.

Out of concern in five school districts that voters may be confused by two-sided ballots in the Feb. 7 election, King County Elections Director Dean Logan issued a news release this week telling voters to check both sides.

If a voter has sealed the envelope and then realizes the ballot inside hasn't been completed on both sides, he or she can request a new ballot. For those who have already sent in their ballots without filling out both sides, there is no second chance.

The other districts with levy or bond measures on the back of ballots are Issaquah, Lake Washington, Northshore and Snoqualmie Valley. Issaquah has two issues on the ballot's flip side: a bus levy and $241 million in construction bonds.

An unknown number of voters in those districts have failed to notice the instruction in red lettering at the bottom of the ballot's first page: "Continue on reverse side."

Voters are accustomed to two-sided ballots in major fall elections when numerous candidates are running, but officials in several school districts said some voters weren't expecting to find ballot issues on both sides of the ballot in the Feb. 7 special election.

One Northshore School District voter reported waking up in the middle of the night, suddenly realizing she had voted on only two of the district's three issues and had already sealed the ballot inside the return envelope, said district spokeswoman Susan Stoltzfus.

County elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said election officials aren't aware of a widespread problem.

But Stoltzfus said voter confusion may be the reason 500 fewer votes were cast on two Northshore school tax measures on the second side of the 2002 ballot than were cast on the issue on the front side.

Kent School District spokeswoman Becky Hanks said someone at a Rotary Club meeting Tuesday acknowledged failing to vote on the bond issue on the back of the ballot, and a school staff member said she had to point out the bond issue to her husband.

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