  Nov. 7, 2006 Flood waters don't dampen King County Elections effortsPoll voters planning on casting a ballot at the polls on their way home from work should leave extra time for traffic and road closures associated with heavy rain and flooding. Voters in severe weather areas, most especially the Snoqualmie Valley and Duvall areas, are reporting difficulty getting to polling places due to road closures. Special efforts will be made to help those registered voters whose extreme circumstances make a trip to their polling place impossible or unsafe. Those voters or their neighbors may call the Voter Hotline at 206-296-VOTE (8683) for assistance. "Our hotline elections workers are standing by to assist voters who are stranded and need our help to be able to vote. We ask that residents who are not stranded, leave those phone lines open as much as possible to allow our workers to assist those stranded voters," said Interim King County Elections Director Jim Buck. King County Elections' officials continue to monitor weather and road conditions as citizens across King County report to the polls today to vote. While flood waters forced closure of two polling places in North Bend and Snoqualmie, the other 507 polling places are all currently open, and voters are reporting to polling places in strong numbers. Flood waters remain high in several areas of the county, and are expected to remain an issue throughout the day and evening, impacting both the evening commute and the ability of some voters to reach their designated polling places. Although two polling places in the Duvall area are isolated by flood waters, the Duvall Church and Stillwater Elementary are dry and accessible to residents in the downtown area. All other voters are reminded that polls close at 8 p.m. and all absentee ballots must be postmarked today. Voters can call the Voter Hotline at 206-296-VOTE (8683) until 8 p.m. for assistance with alternate voting locations. High numbers of voters are choosing to vote by provisional ballots, and officials are working to ensure supplies are adequate for the 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. rush at the polls. Elections officials are also working to troubleshoot remote areas where road closures and flooding are expected to impact the safe transport of completed ballots once the polls have closed. Emergency procedures will be developed for any areas where ballots must be secured overnight. "In addition to helping those voters impacted by the severe weather, we will also work to protect the safety of our ballots and our poll workers as Election Day winds down," said Buck. Flooding forced the closure of the following polling places:
No other polling places are reported closed. First election results will be posted online at 8:15 p.m. For more information about road conditions, visit http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/roads/roadalert/ on the Internet. For updated elections information visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections. |
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Updated: Nov. 7, 2006
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