In collaboration with community stakeholder groups, King County Elections continues to make progress in key areas such as Chinese language compliance, internal review and process transparency, and ensuring accessible voting options for voters with disabilities. King County Elections meets regularly with the King County Democratic and Republican Central Committee chairs, the Chinese minority language Section 203 Coalition, the Disability Advisory Committee and the Citizens' Election Oversight Committee to ensure continuous improvement.
King County political parties
Employing official party observers has been a long standing practice of King County’s. Official party observers are given access to monitor key processes during an election including mail ballot processing, provisional ballot processing, and other critical functions. Since 2006, efforts have been made to address recommendations and concerns of the political parties and work collaboratively to address their concerns.
Section 203 minority language coalition
King County’s compliance with section 203 of the Voting Rights Act has achieved great success since the county first implemented this federally mandated program in 2002, following the 2000 census. The federal law requires counties to provide language assistance to voters if more than 10,000 or 5 percent of voting age citizens are members of a single-language minority group who do not “speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process,” and other factors.
Since establishing the program in 2002, King County has worked closely with a community coalition to develop a bilingual Web site, education and outreach material and an acculturation manual with community accepted translations. The guide is referenced by staff in the translation of ballots, voters’ pamphlets and other election material. The manual and King County’s Chinese minority language program was recently heralded by the Asian Pacific Islander Association as one of the best minority language programs in the nation.
Accessible voting
King County meets regularly with a community Disability Advisory Committee formed in 2005. Meetings are focused on the issue of making voting accessible for all voters, especially those with disabilities. Learn more
Citizens' Election Oversight Committee
King County meets monthly with the Council appointed Citizens’ Election Oversight Committee (CEOC). The 13-member committee was created to monitor county elections and recommend improvements to the performance and accountability of King County Elections. Learn more about the CEOC.
Reforms
Quarterly reports
Reports on King County Elections
Citizen's Election Oversight Committee (February 2007)
Waldron and Company Election Observation Report (January 2006)
Waldron and Company Recommendation Matrix (January 2006)
Citizen Elections Oversight Committee (May 2004 and March 2006)
Elections Center Report (December 2005)
Elections Center Report (October 2005)
Report on the 2004 Election (Feb. 2005)
Secretary of State Report on King County Elections (February 2003)
