Citizens Take Action for Accountable Elections in King County, WA
As Common Sense readers will remember, Paul Jacob commented on King County democracy troubles a couple months ago—the 2004 gubernatorial election was botched by the county's elections director and although current county executive Ron Sims called for a change, in typical politician fashion, nothing really happened.
Lucky for voters, however, a group called Citizens for Accountable Elections has taken matters into their own hands—and the Sam Adams Alliance is proud to support them in their efforts to secure an accountable election process.
Because mismanagement and a lack of leadership continue to plague King County, making it a continued source of election errors and illegal ballots, Citizens for Accountable Elections has pursued an initiative campaign to change the King County charter to make the Elections Director an elected, non-partisan position. And today, the group will turn in more than 74,000 signatures from concerned voters.
"We need 54,732 signatures to qualify the issue for the ballot. This strong show of support indicates that King County voters want the County Council to put this question on the November 2007 ballot," said Toby Nixon, Chair and Spokesperson for the group.
If this measure passes this fall, the Elections Director will be an elected, nonpartisan office with a 4-year term, responsible for voter registration and all elections. Furthermore, the first elected Elections Director will have the authority to staff the new elections division with both new and existing elections staff, at his or her discretion.
As Paul Jacob said, "When you want something done right, voters, sometimes you have to do it yourself." And if the overwhelming support from voters is any indication, it looks like Citizens for Accountable Elections did just that.
Click here to read more about the group's work to make King County's elections accountable to someone they elect—just like every other county in the state.
