  Oct. 18, 2006 Absentee ballots in the mail starting todayMore measures, longer ballot require additional postage for ballotsDespite a major time crunch caused by a primary hand recount, King County expects to mail all 595,000 absentee ballots by Friday, October 20. To make up for time lost to the recount, King County Election officials hired additional staff and worked weekends and evening shifts to ensure 9,179 military, oversea and out-of-state ballots went out Saturday, October 14, the recommended deadline for military and oversea voters. The military, oversea mail deadline was met in spite of a three-day delay in getting the ballots to the printer until the hand recount of 93,000 ballots in the Northeast District Court race was completed. The Department of Justice recommends 45 days for ballots to arrive to military and oversea voters and be returned and received by November 28, the day results are certified. All other absentee ballots must be mailed 18 days before the election, or by Friday, October. 20. Voters need to be aware that due to the larger than usual number of measures in the General Election the ballot is bigger for the general election, which means voters will need to add an extra 24-cent stamp to the usual 39-cent stamp to mail their ballots. "A recount between the primary and general throws off our planning schedule, but staff are making extraordinary efforts to meet our Friday deadline," said Sherril Huff Menees, Assistant Director of Records, Elections and Licensing Services. "An August primary will give us an additional 28 days to do what we scramble to do in just three weeks now. This change is an investment in more accurate and transparent elections." Under current law, election workers have less than three weeks after certification of the primary to hold recounts (if needed), address election contests, hire election board workers, test voting equipment, format and print ballots for the General Election, and finalize and mail Voters' Pamphlets—a race against the clock for election administrators. Washington's late September Primary to August – it gives counties more time for recounts and allows ballots to reach our men and women overseas. Fortunately, this has been the last September primary." The move will give elections staff an additional month to build, proof, and mail ballots to oversea and military voters and perform any recounts. Additional postage required for longer ballot Voters in many jurisdictions could see a one-sided ballot, while voters living in the City of Seattle and other areas of the county will find issues on both sides of their ballot. A reminder notice of the additional postage requirement is included in each absentee ballot packet mailed this week. View the notice online . Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, November 7. Voters can also drop-off their absentee ballot at any polling place between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Election Day. View sample ballots online at http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200611/seattle.pdf and http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200611/bellevue.pdf Options for voters traveling King County Elections will extend its office hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 21 for in-person registrations for new Washington voters and to accommodate voters who are traveling and cannot wait for their ballot to come in the mail. Other options for voters traveling include:
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Updated: Oct. 18, 2006
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