Old equipment will slow King County vote tally

King County's 16-year-old ballot-counting equipment will contribute to a slow statewide tally that could leave voters still wondering Tuesday night who the next Washington governor will be.

The Washington Secretary of State's office is warning people not to draw too many conclusions from Tuesday's results.

That's because King County — home to nearly one-third of the state's registered voters — expects to report only about 39 percent of its results by late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

If this year's rematch between Republican Dino Rossi and Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire is anywhere near as close as it was in 2004, that could mean an unclear picture of the race's outcome.

In 2004, Rossi was ahead on Election Night, but the race grew much closer as more King County votes were counted. Gregoire had heavy support in Democratic-dominated King County, while Rossi did much better east of the mountains.

David Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed, warned that could happen again this year.

"Dino Rossi could well be well ahead on Election Night, and then King County reports," Ammons said. "Sam is concerned that people not jump to conclusions, just because votes are added later, that it's something nefarious."

Major problems with King County Elections were uncovered during the recounts and court battle that followed the disputed 2004 election. In the end, Gregoire was declared the winner by 133 votes.

The elections office has made hundreds of changes in the way it handles and counts ballots since then.

"We are very proud of the fact that we've put in place some new processes," said King County Elections Director Sherril Huff.

The division has a new building in Renton, uses a secure elevator to transport ballots and has improved its ballot-tracking process, to name a few of the changes.

The county had hoped to use new, faster vote-counting machines. But a federal law requires that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission certify the machines before they can be used. That hasn't happened, a frustration that the state and county have been vocal about.

"We're being held hostage by their failure to act," Huff said.

Elections officials all over the country have complained that the certification system is too slow. In June, the commission's chair, Rosemary Rodriguez, said it takes time to thoroughly review the new vote-counting systems.

"Simply put, the EAC will not sacrifice the integrity of the certification process for expediency," she said in a statement.

Ammons said the new machines should be ready to go by spring. In the meantime, the county is relying on its old machines, which were designed to count poll ballots, not mail ballots. Two-thirds of King County voters now vote by mail.

"We have made this work by nursing this equipment along and treating it very tenderly," Huff said.

County workers will start reporting election results about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and post the last Election Night update about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

They will continue tallying votes 16 hours a day for the week after Election Day to get 97 percent of the ballots counted by Nov. 11. Overseas and military ballots may take longer to count.

Many of the problems that slow down the department come from voters, Huff said. She urged voters not to write their names on ballots and to fill in the ovals completely using blue or black ink.

Also, make sure mail-in ballots are postmarked by Tuesday night. Ballots mailed on Election Day may not arrive at the elections office until later in the week.

Huff is predicting an 85 percent voter turnout in the county, while Reed says statewide turnout count will hit 83 percent — the highest in 60 years.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com