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A MOTION establishing the council's action plan for continued improvement in the conduct of King County elections.
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WHEREAS, three citizens groups, an expert audit of elections, two management consultants and the Secretary of State have reviewed King County elections and made recommendations to the county on ways to improve the conduct of elections, and
WHEREAS, in response to the King County citizens' elections oversight committee detailed report that included six high-priority recommendations, management and staff of the elections section have worked hard and made many improvements and have conducted successful elections in 2005 and 2006, and
WHEREAS, the council, the executive, elections section management and staff understand that continual improvement is necessary, and
WHEREAS, the council will continue its active oversight of elections and may mandate additional measures to ensure the continual improvement in the conduct of elections;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The council adopts the following actions and schedule to ensure continued improvement in the conduct of King County elections:
A. By June 12, 2006, the council will decide whether all elections in King County shall be conducted as vote-by-mail elections with a limited number of regional polling places;
B. By June 12, 2006, the council will decide on a policy to consolidate all elections operations into a single facility;
C. By June 26, 2006, the council will decide on the process to acquire or construct a facility into which all elections operations will be consolidated;
D. By June 26, 2006, the council will, by motion, request the executive to transmit an ordinance to the council to acquire or construct a specific facility into which all elections operations will be consolidated. The date for the transmittal of the ordinance shall be before August 15, 2006. The council will act on the ordinance by October 2;
E. By June 12, 2006, the council will, by motion, request the executive to transmit to the council a plan for improving voter registration records. This plan shall take into account the establishment of the Secretary of State's statewide voter registration database system. The plan shall be transmitted to the council by August 15, 2006;
F. By June 12, 2006, the council will, by motion, request the executive to provide, by July 31, a written summary of election security improvements implemented since January 2005, including the current status of physical security of election facilities, ballot security procedures and election and voter registration system security procedures and protocols; to evaluate the elections security recommendations of the Elections Center and the citizens' election oversight committee that have yet to be completed; and to provide a plan to implement those recommendations;
G. By June 30, 2006, the council will decide whether to request the executive to hire a management consultant to assist the records, elections and licensing services division. The role of the consultant is to help improve the culture in the elections section, to assist the organization to become a model elections operation that functions at a very high level of competence with high morale, low turnover and is fully staffed and to help generate positive, quality-oriented performance on an individual and organizational level that will enable the organization to reach greater and more sustainable levels of success;
H. By May 31, 2006, the council will reactivate the citizens' elections oversight committee;
I. Upon appointment, the council will request the charter review commission, to give its advice on whether or not the county auditor should be an elected position and if so, whether or not the position should be a nonpartisan office;
J. By June 12, 2006, the council will request the executive provide the council written quarterly summary reports starting with the fourth quarter of 2006, regarding the conduct of elections, innovations and improvements, and the status of any outstanding operational recommendations from the Election Center audit and the citizens' election oversight committee; and
K. By June 12, 2006, the council will request the citizens' elections oversight committee to evaluate the county's performance in making continued improvements to
elections operations on and report to the council's committee-of-the-whole, or its successor committee, annually.
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