Campaign season starts as candidates file for November election
May 23, 2012
The ballot voters receive in the mailbox by late July is all but certain to contain some familiar names, as elected officials campaign for higher offices and other candidates try another run for elected office.
The period for candidates to enter races up for election on the August and November ballots ended May 18 in a buzz of activity.
Local voters face choices in countywide, legislative, statewide and federal offices. Read more
Snoqualmie Valley must wait until Dec. 13 for outcome in recount of public hospital district race
November 30, 2011
Six votes separate the two challengers for a seat on Public Hospital District No. 4’s board of commissioners. The slim difference triggers a hand recount of the more than 9,000 votes cast in the race.
King County Elections staff will recount ballots on Dec. 12 and post results the following day.
Three other races have triggered automatic recounts: Enumclaw School District Director No. 4, City of Bellevue Council Position No. 1 and City of Des Moines Council Position No. 6.
King County Council looks to add checks in ballot-printing system
November 30, 2011
A computer hiccup nearly cost 11,000 people the opportunity to vote in this year’s general election.
The problem occurred when voter information from King County’s database was being prepared to send to the vendor that prints the ballots.
During the process, the county’s computer crashed and was rebooted. But in doing so, information for 11,000 Eastside voters, including more than 1,000 in the Snoqualmie Valley, was left out.
Latest election returns favor leaders in close races in Snoqualmie Valley
November 10, 2011
Vote returns Thursday all but put an end to three close races in Snoqualmie Valley.
Snoqualmie Valley School Board candidate Geoff Doy increased his lead over incumbent Caroline Loudenback. Doy, who ran on a reform platform, leads by 80 votes with 40 percent of all potential votes tallied. King County election officials had expected a 52 percent turnout across the county.
Doy trailed on Election Day, but overtook Loudenback on Wednesday.
King County voters renew Veterans and Human Services Levy
August 16, 2011
King County voters offered strong support Tuesday for renewing the county Veterans and Human Services Levy until 2017.
The measure, Proposition 1, garnered 66 percent of the vote in the initial round of results King County Elections released just after 8 p.m.
The figure is expected to shift in the coming days as the elections office receives and counts more ballots, but the measure appears certain to pass. The initial tally released Tuesday night encompassed 208,833 ballots.
Work in full bloom at King County Elections prior to bond vote
April 20, 2011
Election Day is almost a half-month away, but you would never know it by the serious faces inside King County Elections in Tukwila April 14.
With the fate of a new middle school hanging in the balance of the April 26 vote, the staff of King County Elections held a “Logic and Accuracy” test to ensure the equipment that will count and tabulate votes works well.
The test is every bit as serious as it sounds, and the looks on the faces of King County staffers reflected the gravity of the situation. These are the machines that will check, recognize and tabulate votes.
King County Elections finishes bulk of hand recount of Snoqualmie Valley school bond
March 3, 2011
 King County Elections employees review a ballot in the hand recount for the Snoqualmie Valley School District bond proposal from the Feb. 8 election. (By Katie Gilliam) |
It took less than two hours for eight 2-person teams of King County Elections employees to finish a hand recount of more than 9,200 ballots cast in the Feb. 8 election by Snoqualmie Valley School District voters. At issue is the district’s $56 million bond to build a new middle school.
The department’s Canvassing Board will meet at 2 p.m. Friday to decide on three contested ballots. The voter’s intent is not clear on one ballot. The other two ballots could be counted if the board verifies the voters’ signatures on them. To conceal how those voters filled out their ballots, they will be mixed in with about 600 ballots that have not been examined in the recount.
The recounts final results will then be posted online.
The bond measure lost by a single vote. Within hours of the results being certified, supporters of the bond had raised the $2,650 needed to pay for a hand recount.
Snoqualmie Valley voters chip in to pay for school bond vote recount
February 24, 2011
When supporter of the $56 million bond measure to build a new school in Snoqualmie Valley heard that it had failed by a single vote, they started to call for a recount.
The campaign went online. A Facebook page, SVSD School Bond Recount, to raise money to pay for a recount went up Wednesday, and by evening, the group had the $2,650 needed for a recount.
Sean Sundwall, who set up the Facebook page, said he plans to deliver the money and request to King County Elections on Thursday afternoon.
Turnout in August election failed to meet expectations
September 8, 2010
NEW — 6:00 a.m. Sept. 8, 2010
Turnout in the August election reached the highest level for a primary in six years, but participation did not meet pre-election estimates.
The all-mail election attracted 39 percent of King County voters. King County Elections had forecast 45 percent turnout before the election. The office tallied 421,157 ballots.
Local candidates for state legislature file before deadline
June 11, 2010
Candidates to represent Snoqualmie Valley in Olympia readied campaign plans as the Friday deadline to file for election approached.
