The Skagit County Auditor screwed-up and omitted from every ballot the legally required language explaining each statewide initiative. (The trail of correspondence from Josef Kunzler who discovered the error to the Secretary of State's office and the Skagit Auditor is here). Now they have to scramble to notify voters through the media and make arrangements for voters to obtain and vote replacement ballots.
Naturally, it's possible for misprinted ballots to be delivered to polling places. But the necessity of mailing ballots 3 weeks before an election means less time for election officials to double check their work and correct any errors. And then there's the cost and hassle of notifying voters, distributing replacement ballots and the uncertainty that not every voter is equally informed.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 20, 2006 03:34 PM | Email ThisToo bad the Auditor didn't just jump on it and fix it right away. Counties, including mine, Snohomish, just don't get that the public expects better.
Thanks, Stefan and Josef, for exposing the slackers.
The Geezer
Posted by: The Geezer on October 20, 2006 05:30 PMMaybe the county will see that citizens have the interest of their government in mind when they make public disclosure reqests, etc. If he had not saved thier bacon on this one, there would be a lot more issues involved.
I agree with you Mr. The Geezer, Snohomish County is a pimple on the State of Washington's hind end. The have the opinion they are the County, and they make the decisions. They don't understand their authority is limited to what our Constitution and RCW's allows them, and the rest is hands off and accountable to the people.
One day that pimple will pop, and it won't be pretty. It's festered long enough......time for some acne cream up there.
Posted by: Joel Johnston on October 20, 2006 06:16 PMthis again after previous voting problems. like it's all new to them? no extra effort to check anything? what a farce. what a shame. third world class. "any bank would envy."
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on October 21, 2006 02:51 AMOur complany does work for a number of counties, and Skagit is about the most organized one of the lot.
The secerty of state also aproves all ballots before they are sent off for printing, so we can ask what happened to them even taking the time to look at the ballots. I think more than Skagit Co auditor is to blame for this probme.
Posted by: LukeLewisCo on October 21, 2006 11:40 AMMistakes can happen, but I have worked in a couple of jobs managing contracts (like the MCS ones at M$, worldwide) where there could be no mistakes, save for very, very costly ones.
The Geezer
Posted by: The Geezer on October 22, 2006 07:40 PM