Your democracy at work

Moving downstairs is a step up for the Skagit County elections office, which has doubled its workspace, increased transparency and improved efficiency in its new digs at the county administration building in Mount Vernon, Auditor Sandy Perkins told the Weekly News last Thursday.

The Skagit County Auditor's Office in September moved its elections space from a cramped cubbyhole on the administration building's second floor to first floor court hearing rooms.

The county this year revamped two of three hearing rooms for elections use, with the third – for permanent returned ballot storage location – planned for conversion in early 2026.

"Our goal in coming down here and having more space," Perkins said, "was to achieve more transparency for ballot processing. You can stand in place and see everything."

She referred to a wall of windows as significantly improving public visibility of ballot processing.

Volunteer observers will also have more room to circulate and monitor elections operations, Perkins and elections manager Gabrielle Clay confirmed.

The space makes possible the hiring of additional elections season workers, more than a dozen for the 2024 cycle. That, the county staff say, speeds up processes for ballot-counting and reporting election results.

"We have more than double (the number of part-time workers) than what the old space would accommodate," Perkins said.

The elections space expansion includes a room for a ballot-sorting machine that opens ballot envelopes, scans voter signatures and prepares ballots for counting in the tabulation area.

"That machine is very important to us," said Clay.

There are more than 87,000 registered voters in Skagit County, Clay said, and generally 80%-83% send in ballots.

The Nov. 5 election should meet or exceed that, she said.

"We anticipate receiving about 70,000 ballots," said Clay. "A presidential election year always has the highest level of participation."

The vote-counting mechanism is multi-tiered, including ballot signature verification.

"It takes time to process that volume of ballots," Clay said, noting that about half of all ballots are received election day week.

"Counting 30,000 to 35,000 ballots in a couple days is quite a chore," Perkins added. "That's why we encourage everybody to turn their ballots in early."

Perkins and Clay expressed appreciation that county commissioners committed expanded space for the elections office.

Despite this state's mail-in system, Perkins and Clay said hundreds will vote in person at the county's office on election day.

The expansion will accommodate more workstations as Skagit County's population grows.

"It should be good for at least 10 years," Clay said, "short of a boom if another 100,000 people move into Skagit County."

"We're very grateful to have this larger space," Perkins stressed, "and it's much more transparent to the public."

Perkins touted the level of election security, noting that the elections staff includes a cybersecurity expert.

The elections office isn't immune to criticism, Perkins and Clay concede.

"We'll hear from people who are upset or maybe cranky or having a bad day," Clay said.

But she and Perkins said they are buoyed by those who take the time to acknowledge the office's work.

"It's always nice," said Clay, "when we're told 'thank you' for working the elections."

"I remember getting a voice mail from an elderly gentleman that was so nice," Perkins said. "He said 'you're doing a great job, please thank your staff. God bless your staff.'" She has kept that message.

Perkins said that COVID-19 ended the days when crowds routinely gathered in the administration building's rotunda after the polls closed to get copies of initial election results.

"We discouraged gatherings during the pandemic, obviously," she said. "And now people can get results quicker on their smartphones."

Clay said the new, larger space and technology upgrades have already proved their worth.

"There's a huge difference," she said. "It's already saved us time."