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12/06/2008: "Election Cycle Complete"
By Milene Henley
With the requested recount now complete, the San Juan County Elections Office has completed the 2008 election cycle. And what a year it was! Starting with a Presidential Primary in February, continuing with the first ever “Top 2” Primary in August, and culminating with a historic Presidential race in November, it was definitely a year for the history books.
The Presidential race, which captured more attention than any in recent years, drove high voter registrations and even higher voter turnout. Statewide, Washington voters turned out in higher numbers than ever before, 84.61% of registered voters, voting in November.
San Juan County led the state in voter turnout for both the August primary and the November general elections, with 65.81% and 91.49%, respectively. The ages of San Juan County voters ranged from 18 (one voter turned 18 on November 1) to 100 years.
Elections Supervisor Doris Schaller and Elections Assistant Carlys Allen, together with their dedicated team of election workers, worked like a well-oiled machine to complete the ballot preparation, mailing, processing, and tabulating. They convened again yesterday to complete a recount requested by one of the candidates.
Mindy Kayl, who lost to Richard Fralick in the District 4 Council race, requested the recount. She was not questioning the results, she said, but the system. “I don’t trust the scanner,” she said. San Juan County has an optical scanning ballot tabulation system. Ballots are scanned, and then tabulated electronically. Prior to scanning, ballots are examined manually for stray marks or other anomalies which might be mis-read by the scanner. After scanning, questionable votes, such as overvotes (more than one vote in any given race) and write-in candidates, are visually reviewed by the elections team. The system passed the recount test with flying colors, with the manual recount returning exactly the same number of votes as tallied electronically.
The high level of interest in this election year generated a high level of foot traffic for the Elections Office. Or, in one case, car traffic. When a 96-year-old voter came in to register"for the first time ever in Washington State"she stayed in her car and Allen took the form out to her. “She was still in her pajamas,” said Allen, “but she really wanted to vote.” Three young California voters, who found themselves in the wrong state on Election Day, took an afternoon ferry from Orcas to San Juan Island, ran up the hill to the Elections Office to pick up and vote provisional ballots, then ran back to the ferry for the return ride to Orcas. Such ballots are forwarded to the appropriate county for verification and tabulation there.
The local election was certified by the San Juan County Canvass Board on Tuesday, November 25, as required by state law, and re-certified for the recount today. Secretary of State Sam Reed certified the election at the state level yesterday.
Locally, Elections staff are looking forward to a quiet holiday season before beginning the cycle all over again next year.
