Oct. 13, 2004
King County leads nation in
number of absentee ballots mailed
King County Elections mailed record numbers of absentee ballots to voters in King County today.
With more than 570,000 mailed, absentee ballots will soon begin arriving in voters' mail boxes -- representing the most ever mailed for an
election in King County. Second only to Los Angeles County, California, King County issues and processes more ballots through the mail
than any other jurisdiction in the country.
With new voter registrations up by 15 percent, voter turnout in the General Election is expected to reach 82 percent -- higher
than any other election in history. About 58 percent of that turnout is expected to come from votes cast through the mail.
"We've seen a huge surge in new registrations this year. I credit the fervor surrounding a Presidential year election
and the extensive voter outreach we've done here in King County for that increase," said Dean Logan, director of Records,
Elections and Licensing Services. "Since January, we've added more than 104,000 new voters, and in the final days of in-person
registration, we're reaching out to the community to register even more."
Although King County Elections has seen a record-number of new registrants there are still others who have not yet registered.
As of this release, the total number of registered voters in the county stands at 1,033,000.
To meet the needs of people outside the downtown Seattle business core who are not able to register
in-person at the elections office, King County Elections has extended its office hours and partnered with the League of Women
Voters to send a Vote Mobile to every corner of King County to register new voters before the Oct. 18 deadline. "People have been calling us eager to register, but unable to make it into our office, so we're bringing King County Elections
to neighborhoods across the county," said Logan. "If prospective voters can't get to us, perhaps we can bring our office to them."
Within the first 2 days Vote Mobile workers registered more than 200 new voters.
King County Elections is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct.16 from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and Monday, Oct.18 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. - the last day to register in-person to vote in the Nov.2 General Election.
Absentee voters who have not received their ballots by Oct.20th should call the Voter Information Hotline at 206-296-VOTE.
The hotline has been expanded to provide assistance from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturdays leading up to the General Election.
Voters may also receive automated phone assistance after hours and on weekends through the Voter Hotline and online.
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