All-mail election requires officials to educate voters

If Seattle voters show up at their normal polling places March 13 to cast a ballot on how to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, they'll find no place to vote. There may not even be a sign noting there's an election that day.

The vote on replacing the viaduct will be the city's first all-mail election, leaving the King County elections division a little over a month to educate 133,000 Seattle poll voters on how to cast an absentee ballot.

Election officials want to use that time to remind people to update their voter information to ensure their votes are counted.

It's not the first all-mail election the county department has conducted, but the March election will highlight whether the office — and the voters — are ready for all-mail voting. The office is planning to switch all county elections to vote-by-mail in early 2008.

Jim Buck, interim director of the elections office, said he sees this election as an opportunity to switch people over to absentee voting before 2008. The elections office tentatively estimates a 50 to 60 percent turnout for the March 13 vote by the city's 338,000 registered voters.

Buck said there "certainly is concern" about educating the poll voters for this election, but "we have confidence we can get this information out to them in time."

The elections office plans to use Seattle's Feb. 6 school-levy election — which will be conducted with the usual mix of absentee and poll voting — as a way to educate voters about the March 13 vote-by-mail election.

How to vote in the viaduct election

The election on replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be the first all-mail election in Seattle's history.

Feb. 10: Last day registered voters can change their addresses with the election office.

Feb. 21: Absentee ballots will be mailed to registered Seattle voters. In early February, the King County elections office will send letters to Seattle poll voters suggesting they update their signatures.

Feb. 26: Last day for new residents to register to vote in the March 13 election.

March 13: All ballots for the election must be postmarked by this date or dropped off at one of three to-be-determined locations in the city.

Source: King County Elections

For the school election, poll workers will hang posters in the polling places highlighting the changes for March's election. They also will wear stickers reminding people to update their signatures, and pass out handouts with answers to frequently asked questions. Elections officials will send letters to all poll voters in early February asking them to update their signature on their voter-registration form.

In some cases, those signatures may be years, even decades old. When the office processes absentee ballots, the signature on the absentee-ballot envelope must match the signature the office has on file.

Absentee ballots for the viaduct election will be sent to voters Feb. 21. On election day, the office plans to open three ballot drop-off locations in the city.

County Councilman Bob Ferguson, D-Seattle, wants the county to open more drop-off locations and he's worried that there is not enough time to educate voters.

"People are receiving ballots who have never received absentee ballots," he said at a council briefing Monday. "These are people who have been voting at polls 20, 30, 40, 50 years."

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com