As has been discussed previously on this blog, in my column last week for The Stranger and by King County Councilwoman Jane Hague at a recent Council meeting: Dean Logan has ended a long-standing Elections office policy to hire both Republican and Democrat party designees to help fill vacant poll worker assignements to ensure a fair and lawful bipartisan balance at the polls.
In a letter to King County GOP Chairman Michael Young, Dean Logan admits that, yes, he has deliberately ended this practice and refused to hire Republican designees to fill poll worker assignments. His excuse was particularly lame:
we filled the recuritment positions based on demonstrated skill [using the new election management computer system] and background without regard for party affiliationhe goes on to give the lame assurance that:
All poll workers are asked to designate a party affiliation and every attempt is made to staff all polling places with judges representing each of the two major political partiesPoll workers who designate their own "party affiliation" can and have abused this. I've heard reports of self-reported "Republicans" who turn out to be active Democrats. A party representative would be both better equipped and more motivated to ensure a genuine balance at the polls. If Dean Logan (=Ron Sims) were genuinely interested in both the perception and reality of a fair and bi-partisan election operation, they would simply give the Republican designees training on the new software system, which really can't be all that hard to use.
Instead, it's plain that Ron Sims is insistent on purging anybody from the Elections office who might disagree with him so he can turn the Elections office into a personal asset to boost his own sagging re-election chances.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 07, 2005 12:20 PM | Email This...instead of KC Elections accepting his criticism and admonition to do better, they have taken his refusal to order specific corrective actions as carte blanche to commit whatever abuses they desire.
The solution?
Vote early and often, to ensure the election of Irons. Then the problems can be fixed by someone who is actually interested in having a system with integrity, instead of continued corruption.
Posted by: ewaggin on September 7, 2005 12:43 PMIt is really fun watching Ron Sims and Carolyn Edmonds self destruct.
Hopefully the voters are fed up enough that they will change the power structure and King County by electing David Irons and Steven Pyeatt.
Posted by: Coz on September 7, 2005 12:55 PMCan anybody say "Blanco!"
Posted by: huckleberry on September 7, 2005 02:22 PMDemocrats on the other hand, need lots of special training on the software, wink wink, to achieve the desired results.
RCW 29A.44.410
Appointment of judges and inspector.
(4) The county auditor shall designate the inspector and one judge in each precinct from that political party which polled the highest number of votes in the county for its candidate for president at the last preceding presidential election and one judge from that political party polling the next highest number of votes in the county for its candidate for president at the same election. The provisions of this subsection apply only if the number of names on the official nomination list for inspectors and judges of election for a political party is sufficient to satisfy the requirements imposed by this subsection.
RCW 29A.44.440
Vacancies -- How filled -- Inspector's authority.
If no election officers have been appointed for a precinct, or if at the hour for opening the polls none of those appointed is present at the polling place therein, the voters present may appoint the election board for that precinct. One of the judges may perform the duties of clerk of election. The inspector shall have the power to fill any vacancy that may occur in the board of judges, or by absence or refusal to serve of either of the clerks after the polls shall have been opened.
This should be in the media!.....The Republican voters of King County deserve to know that they are purposely NOT being represented at the polling places because of Dean Logan's illegal party discrimination!!
Posted by: Deborah on September 7, 2005 08:27 PMIt is interesting that both of the candidates presented by the republicans that were turned down have experience in that department but in addition have close ties to Rob Mckenna!
His excuses are completely BOGUS.
Now if only the PUBS would use this in a hard hitting campaign across the state...in every single election....Seattle Slimes will stay Democrat, but the rest of the state would be Pub....
''
If only.......
My question to Mr. Logan is how are you supposed to try to balance poll site boards when all 5 people that are doing the hiring and recruiting of poll workers are democrats?
I am not saying that the employees that are in that section will go out of their way to not hire republicans. In fact the people I know in that section are very fair and honest. HOWEVER, they do recruit from their sources. Their sources being the democrats current and past poll worker lists. I just hope without any representation that Republican poll workers from the past will be called when looking to fill and balance boards. And in addition that Republicans calling to be poll workers will be asked if they have the ability to travel to poll sites that are democrat heavy.
Posted by: Joe on September 8, 2005 01:41 AMWe all see it coming and there simply is nothing we appear to be able to do about it. Judge Bridges had it wrong - we can't just vote people out of office when they run a banana republic.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on September 8, 2005 02:22 AMHave you seen the letter from Mike Young that generated the response fron deano?
Posted by: concerned voter on September 8, 2005 10:53 AM