Voters decide whether to make county offices nonpartisan

King County voters were showing strong interest Tuesday in making the offices of county executive, County Council and assessor nonpartisan.

Such a change to the county charter requires two steps. Late in the evening, voters appeared ready to take the first step — putting the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Voters also were asked to choose which of two proposals for conducting nonpartisan elections should go on the fall ballot.

One, which the County Council placed on the ballot, would allow candidates to list party preference on the ballot. Late Tuesday, voters were rejecting that party-preference proposal in favor of the more straightforward Initiative 26.

Former governors Dan Evans, a Republican, and Democrat Booth Gardner endorsed I-26, and former Western Wireless CEO and frequent Republican donor John Stanton and his wife, Theresa Gillespie, have been major donors.