News
PubliCola Candidate Ratings: King County Elections Director
Sticking with our commitment to be a more objective and balanced source of news, we’re doing things differently this year than we have in the past.
Inspired by the even-keeled Seattle/King County Municipal League’s approach to candidates (rather than endorsing, the Muni League rates based on skill, experience, and policy acumen as opposed to ideology), we’ve been talking to candidates and interviewing folks on both sides of the ballot measures and coming up with our own ratings.
(Here’s our take on I-1125, the tolling initiative, our take on I-1183, the liquor privatization measure, and I-1163, the health care worker training initiative. Here’s our rating of King County Council Position 6 incumbent Jane Hague and her challenger, Richard Mitchell. And here's our take on the candidates for Seattle City Council Position 1 and Seattle Port Commission Position 5.)
Two past elections revealed what can happen when the elections office isn't run smoothly: In 2002, elections superintendent Julie Anne Kempf was reprimanded (and ultimately fired) after allegedly lying to her bosses and the public about nearly a half million ballots that were mailed so late that some residents lost their right to vote. And in 2004, after discovering an error in counting ballots ultimately switched the winner of the gubernatorial race from Dino Rossi to Chris Gregoire.
Sherril Huff: Exceptional
As King County Elections Director since 2009, Huff has transformed the elections office into a well-oiled machine, transitioning the county to vote-by-mail, consolidating three King County Elections facilities into a single location, improving voter registration and ballot security, and overseeing the relocation of the elections office from Renton to Boeing Field and back again after damage to the Howard Hanson Dam threatened the facility.
Mark Greene: Unacceptable
Greene, a self-styled election reformer, believes the media, the Municipal League, and the elections office conspired to "steal" an election for state representative from him in 2004 and has accused Huff, who oversees the county elections web site, of hiding information about him from the voters.He is not qualified for the position.
Inspired by the even-keeled Seattle/King County Municipal League’s approach to candidates (rather than endorsing, the Muni League rates based on skill, experience, and policy acumen as opposed to ideology), we’ve been talking to candidates and interviewing folks on both sides of the ballot measures and coming up with our own ratings.
(Here’s our take on I-1125, the tolling initiative, our take on I-1183, the liquor privatization measure, and I-1163, the health care worker training initiative. Here’s our rating of King County Council Position 6 incumbent Jane Hague and her challenger, Richard Mitchell. And here's our take on the candidates for Seattle City Council Position 1 and Seattle Port Commission Position 5.)
King County Elections Director
The King County Elections Director has a big job: Creating and distributing voters guides, making ballots accessible to all voters under the county's vote-by-mail system, making sure that voter registration rolls are accurate and up-to-date, and tracking ballots accurately to ensure that every vote gets counted.
Two past elections revealed what can happen when the elections office isn't run smoothly: In 2002, elections superintendent Julie Anne Kempf was reprimanded (and ultimately fired) after allegedly lying to her bosses and the public about nearly a half million ballots that were mailed so late that some residents lost their right to vote. And in 2004, after discovering an error in counting ballots ultimately switched the winner of the gubernatorial race from Dino Rossi to Chris Gregoire.
Sherril Huff: Exceptional
As King County Elections Director since 2009, Huff has transformed the elections office into a well-oiled machine, transitioning the county to vote-by-mail, consolidating three King County Elections facilities into a single location, improving voter registration and ballot security, and overseeing the relocation of the elections office from Renton to Boeing Field and back again after damage to the Howard Hanson Dam threatened the facility.
Mark Greene: Unacceptable
Greene, a self-styled election reformer, believes the media, the Municipal League, and the elections office conspired to "steal" an election for state representative from him in 2004 and has accused Huff, who oversees the county elections web site, of hiding information about him from the voters.He is not qualified for the position.
