A King County Sheriff\u2019s deputy sits just beyond the turnstiles, which are beeping because someone didn\u2019t have a key card. Behind the deputy is a chain-link cage, guarded by a fingerprint scanner. Fifty-nine security cameras are recording in the building\u2019s eight security zones. All visitors are wearing badges. Most doors automatically shut in 30 seconds.<\/p>\n
The King County Elections Building is a secure place, and it should be. The building, on Renton\u2019s Southwest Grady Way, is the place where elections are managed for the state\u2019s biggest county. The 94,000-square-foot building was designed by casino-security experts, elections professionals and King County facilities employees.<\/p>\n
King County Elections moved into the renovated building in December. But the grand opening was just last Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought I\u2019d see this day,\u201d King County Executive Ron Sims said to the crowd in the lobby at the opening. It took a few years to find a new spot, and this one sits just about in the center of the county.<\/p>\n
Sims called moving to a new building a \u201ckey milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n
A \u201ckey milestone\u201d at the top of the list of the more than 300 reforms recommended in 2004 by various oversight groups after the controversial governor\u2019s election. A total of 308 of those recommendations have since been implemented.<\/p>\n
Before the move, King County Elections was housed in three buildings: two in Seattle and one in Tukwila.<\/p>\n
Those times were challenging, Elections Director Sherril Huff said at Friday\u2019s open house. Ballots had to be transported from an administrative building in Seattle to a ballot counting and sorting facility in Tukwila. This move required oversight from witnesses, employees and sheriff\u2019s officers.<\/p>\n
Now ballots go directly to locked chain-link cages on the second floor of the Renton facility \u2014 a floor dedicated solely to ballot processing.<\/p>\n
The Renton building was designed with security and transparency in mind, Huff said. A public observation loop \u2014 a windowed hall \u2014 runs around the perimeter of the second floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it in the state,\u201d Huff said of the building\u2019s security. \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if there\u2019s anything like it in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ballot processing at King County Elections includes five steps. First there\u2019s sorting by legislative district. Next is signature verification. A man at a computer was examining a signature Friday morning. Workers like him compare the voters\u2019 signatures on their ballots to those on registration forms. Voters are contacted for confirmation if the signature is not approved. If approved, the ballot moves onto opening. Ballots with stray marks or marks made using pencil or a non-blue or black pen are sent to duplication, where two-person teams duplicate the person\u2019s votes on a new ballot. The final step is tabulation, or counting.<\/p>\n
Workers were completing these steps on ballots from the May 20 election Friday morning. But because only three measures were on the ballot, not much was going on Friday.<\/p>\n
Many of these ballot-processing steps will be simplified in 2009, when King County moves to an all-mail election system. The Seattle building that houses poll equipment will be closed at that time and a regional voting center opened on the first floor of the King County Elections Building.<\/p>\n
Workers are already testing new scanning equipment to be used when the all-mail transition occurs. This new equipment will make work \u201ca lot less hands-on,\u201d an Elections employee said Friday.<\/p>\n
King County Elections has 61 full-time employees, but the building is large enough to house 500 temporary employees, who might be needed in a recount. The building also houses a 40-person phone bank and conference, training and multipurpose rooms. There\u2019s enough space to train the 500 to 700 people needed for large election seasons, like this fall\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n
Huff says King County Elections has come a long way since 2004, and Renton\u2019s new, technologically advanced building is an example of that progress.<\/p>\n
King County Elections has achieved its goal of being a standard setter, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re having others come to us… seeing what we\u2019ve developed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be here four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is a doggone good day,\u201d Sims added Friday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Elections office<\/p>\n
The King County Elections Building is at 919 S.W. Grady Way in Renton. 206-296-VOTE (8683), elections@kingcounty.gov, www.metrokc.gov\/elections. Hours are weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tours are available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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