| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010 2:56 pm |
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Local News 
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Count drags on long after the election's over Few contests change after election night, but the long counts prompt calls for ballots to be returned earlier. EVERETT — It certainly takes longer to count ballots and decide races in this era of voting by mail.In the end in Snohomish County nearly everyone who’s ahead on election night still winds up finishing that way. When results of this month’s election are certified Tuesday, the list of winning candidates and measures in this county will look almost identical to the leader board posted the night of Nov. 3. In a review of election returns, The Herald found only three of 91 competitive contests will wind up different and these involve seats on a fire district commission, the Index Town Council and the Mukilteo School Board. Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel isn’t surprised by that number. “We’re now counting a large enough portion of the ballots on election night, sometimes 60 percent, that the trend in a race is established,” she said. Changes that do occur are anomalies and tend to be in smaller districts where a few votes can alter the course, she said. While results rarely flip, waiting through days of ballot counting until they are clear beyond doubt can cause angst for candidates and their supporters and has prompted calls for revising state law. Secretary of State Sam Reed has in the past pushed for a law that would require ballots arrive in the auditor’s office by election day and that those arriving later — even by mail — would not be counted. He may have an ally in the pursuit this year in Gov. Chris Gregoire. Earlier this month, as ballot counting in the Seattle mayor’s race entered in its second week without a victor, she said the public deserves to know sooner who won. “I think we need to know that night. We’ve got to find a better way,” she said. u u u In Washington, 38 of 39 counties conduct elections by mail with Pierce County the lone holdout using polling places. Snohomish County switched in 2006, and in more than 95 percent of elections since then the leader on the night of election was the same as the day of certification. To come up with that figure, The Herald compared results reported election night with final certified totals in primary and general elections. This covered 364 contests ranging from city council races and levy measures to statewide initiatives and the 2008 presidential race. Eleven times — once each in 2006 and 2007, four times in 2008 and five this year — the outcome changed. However, in some instances it was not because of voters in this county alone. Not every flip involved someone winning an office. For example, in this year’s August primary for Monroe mayor, incumbent Donetta Walser was the top vote getter. Mitch Ruth and Robert Zimmerman battled for second and a spot on the November ballot. Ruth led by six votes for second place on the primary election night and Zimmerman came back to pass Ruth by 42 votes. Zimmerman defeated Walser on Nov. 3. u u u In the past three years, there have been high-profile contests where the outcome changed. In 2007 it involved the statewide measure making it possible to pass school levies on a simple majority vote. On the first night of tabulations, it was losing in Snohomish County and statewide. A week later the tide turned in the county and the state and it passed. In November 2008, one of the most talked about turnarounds in a local election occurred. It came in the contest between then Rep. Liz Loomis, D-Snohomish, and Republican challenger Mike Hope of Lake Stevens. Hope trailed on election night by 2,139 votes and ultimately won by 118. “I thought we lost,” Hope recalled Friday. “Of course we told our supporters we’re still in this but realistically I thought we were done.” The next day, he and his campaign manager started pulling up campaign signs and hauling them to the dump figuring they’d never be needed again. “I threw away a couple thousand dollars worth,” said Hope who said he will seek re-election in 2010. He stopped the next day when a batch of new votes put him in striking distance. On Saturday, four days after the election, he took the lead he wouldn’t relinquish. Waiting makes for nervous days, he admitted. He opposes requiring ballots be in by election day out of concern it will disenfranchise voters. “I’m not willing to give up somebody’s vote just to have an election done faster,” he said. “You want it to be accurate. It’d be ideal to have done on election night but it’s worth the wait if you win.” Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, had a similar experience in 2008 when she won her seat serving Island County and parts of Snohomish and Skagit counties. She went to bed election night trailing Democrat Tim Knue by 929 votes; she eventually won by 480. She did lose to Knue by 18 votes in Snohomish County. That is far less than the 405-vote deficit she faced on the initial evening of counting. Unlike Hope, she wants to speed things up without losing any accuracy. Every ballot should be in by Election Day unless the voter is overseas or in the military, she said. “There is a way we ought to be able to do this and not have voters have to wait to find out,” she said. When vote counting drags it’s easy for the public to lose track of the outcome and confidence in the process, she said. Making changes “will build trust in government and that is a noble goal to pursue,” she said. Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com. |
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(34) - Monroe girl guilty of murder in Sultan gang slaying (17)
- Former county planning director pleads not guilty to assault charge (17)
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