County to offer paid-postage ballots

Snohomish County voters will have another free option for turning in their ballots in this year’s primary and general elections.

The State of Washington is paying for postage for residents who return their ballots by mail. Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of State Kim Wyman collaborated to secure $1.2 million for the costs this year.

“That money will come from current fiscal year salary savings from unfilled positions and unanticipated existing funds intended to reimburse counties for previous election costs,” according to a news release.

The decision was prompted by an ordinance King County adopted this month that will provide paid-postage ballots for its voters, according to the release. Inslee and Wyman’s offices will fund the cost of providing paid-postage ballots in any of the 38 Washington counties that request it. They will request a reimbursement for King County’s costs during the 2019 legislative session.

Snohomish County Elections manager Garth Fell is looking forward to broadening options for voters.

His office is still in the process of installing more drop boxes around the county in response to a law passed during the 2017 legislative session. Former Sen. Kirk Pearson’s bill to increase the number of ballot drop boxes passed unanimously in the senate and by a supermajority in the house last year.

The legislation was originally drafted to combat the cost of sending in a ballot. Voters paid 68 cents to mail in their lengthy 2016 general election form.

Pearson has referred to the postage as a “poll tax,” and maintains it discourages participation, and that everyone should have access to the same services. He argued ballot boxes are disproportionately located in larger jurisdictions.

The bill requires counties to install one drop box per 15,000 registered voters in each county, and in each city, town and census-designated place with a post office. In Snohomish County, the majority are set up in the county’s most populous cities, such as Everett, Monroe and Lake Stevens.

There is evidence the county’s voters do prefer the free method.

In the 2016 general election, the Washington Secretary of State’s Office counted 360,487 ballots, with 233,853 people choosing to opt out of mailing in their forms, according to Snohomish County Elections.

Per the new law, Snohomish County was slated to get 19 more ballot boxes, in addition to the 12 previously set up. The county has installed four so far, including one in Gold Bar.

While Pearson’s bill saw support in Olympia, county auditors expressed concerns about the price of fulfilling its requirements. Many asked the state to help pay for purchasing and setting up the ballot boxes.

Fell said the county estimated the costs of materials and installation would be between $9,000-$10,000 for each ballot box. Gold Bar’s was a little less expensive because a concrete foundation had already been constructed where it was set up.

He also previously estimated a significant increase to the agency’s annual budget, close to $73,000, for maintenance and labor. The agency filed a claim with the state for reimbursement, but it was denied, Fell said.

He said Index, Startup and Sultan are set to receive ballot drop boxes once the county can identify a good installation site through collaboration with those communities. The goal is to get the rest in place within the next year.

Fell said he is interested in seeing if or how the prepaid postage will change the use of drop boxes. He said he has heard from other counties that piloted similar programs that they saw less use of the drop boxes. The result could be the same in Snohomish County, he said.

Inslee and Wyman estimate annually prepaid postage will cost the state $1.8 million.

“This is about leveling the playing field and making elections equal for all citizens of Washington State,” said Wyman in the news release.

Wyman had asked the King County Commission to hold off on approving an ordinance to cover the cost of postage for its primary and general elections until she could secure funding for statewide ballot postage.

Inslee and Wyman will push to make the program permanent during the next legislative session, according to the release. If they succeed, Washington would be the first state to do so.