Oct. 29, 2004

King County prepares for record turnout

King County Elections predicts next week's General Election will break all turnout records in King County.

Elections officials are projecting a turnout of 82 percent this Presidential Election, with an estimated 370,000 votes cast at the polls and more than 520,000 votes cast through the mail.

King County Elections processed a record-breaking 138,729 new registrations, a 40 percent increase for the same 10-month period leading up to the 2000 November election.

To help prepare for the record turnout, elections officials have procedures in place to help voters, observers and poll workers on this historic day.

Procedures in place to accommodate record turnout include:

Additional supplies of provisional ballots for voters whose names are not found in the poll books.

Additional training for poll inspectors, alerting them to the anticipated high turnout and the presence of observers.

Extended training opportunities for individuals and organizations who wish to observe the elections process.

Extended voter hotline hours to accommodate voters who encounter problems voting or who need additional assistance. Voters should call 206-296-VOTE (8683) with questions.

An online polling place look-up feature that allows voters to confirm their registration and find their closest polling location.

Daily counts of absentee ballots through Friday, November 5th. Results will be emailed to the press daily at 4:00 p.m. and available online at www.kingcounty.gov/elections.

"Judging from the excitement surrounding this election, we are anticipating a number of observers at the polls," said Dean Logan, director of Records, Elections and Licensing Services. "Leading up to this election we've offered several observer training classes to give first-time poll watchers an opportunity to learn more about the elections process in Washington State."

For more than two decades, Washington counties have assured voters who show up on Election Day the opportunity to vote. Voters whose names are not listed in the poll books cast a "special" or provisional ballot. These ballots are researched during the 15-day canvassing period leading up to the certification of the election. Only votes cast in races for which the voter is eligible will be counted.

Voters may look-up the status of their provisional ballot online beginning Monday, Nov. 9 at www.kingcounty.gov/elections.
Information will be posted daily through the certification of the election on Nov.17.

In the 2000 Presidential Election 17,081 provisional ballots were cast. Of these, 78 percent were counted.

In the last 2004 Primary, 90 percent of provisional ballots were counted.

Updated: Oct. 29, 2004

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