Sims reschedules all-mail voting for next February

King County Executive Ron Sims dropped plans Wednesday to hold a vote-by-mail presidential election in November, because the federal government hasn't certified the new tabulating equipment he says is necessary to do the job reliably.

The first countywide all-mail election is now scheduled for February 2009.

"It's disappointing. I can't minimize the fact that it's disappointing," Elections Director Sherril Huff said after meeting with staff members to inform them of the delay.

For months, Huff has told the Metropolitan King County Council that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) would need to certify new high-speed tabulators by Feb. 1 for the county to use them in the August primary for state and local races and November general election. The equipment is made by Allen, Texas-based Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems.

The county's older Diebold tabulators and database can't handle an additional 300,000 mail ballots, Huff said.

"Moving forward with vote by mail in 2008 would jeopardize our ability to do a thorough security review of the equipment," Sims said in a statement.

Several County Council members supported Sims' decision to put off closing neighborhood polling places until 2009 — but also expressed frustration over the delay.

"Nearly everybody else seems to have been able to get it done," said Councilmember Larry Phillips, noting that all of Oregon and most Washington counties now vote by mail.

Phillips, a supporter of all-mail voting, last month urged Sims to put off the switch for a year as it became less likely the equipment would be certified in time for the 2008 elections.

Neither Phillips nor Councilmember Bob Ferguson, both Seattle Democrats, was surprised by Sims' announcement. "These delays with the certification have been going on for some months. It certainly seems like the right decision to make sure we do it right when we make the change," Ferguson said.

The new schedule pushes back the first all-mail vote to the month when voters may decide who will replace Huff as elections director. If voters this November approve a charter amendment making the position a nonpartisan elected post, the first director would be elected in February 2009.

Huff has said she wouldn't run for election.

King County officials have repeatedly predicted federal certification dates that haven't been met. Sims submitted a report to the County Council on Dec. 31 that predicted the Premier equipment would be certified by early January — even though the government-approved testing lab hadn't yet submitted a proposed test plan.

SysTest Labs of Denver submitted its draft test plan Jan. 2 and told Premier in a letter two weeks later that it expected to finish testing and submit a report to the EAC next Monday "barring any unforeseen test execution or compliance issues." EAC reviewers raised concerns about the test plan, and SysTest submitted a revised plan Saturday, according to the EAC.

The revised test plan is undergoing EAC review.

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