Record Group 040.01
ELECTION BOARD

When King County was formed in 1853, the Oregon Territorial Legislature mandated the County Commissioners to oversee elections. They appointed an Auditor to act as voter registrar, provide the materials needed for voting, canvass (tally and certify) election returns, along with his other duties of office. The Supervisor of Elections selected suitable places for voting, submitted names of voting officials to the Auditor (who then appointed officials), and oversaw the activities related to voting. In 1865, the Washington Territorial Legislature appointed a Canvassing Board, and later, the Election Board. Both boards were comprised of the chairman of the County Commissioners, the Prosecuting Attorney, and the Auditor. These boards and the Supervisor of Elections helped carry out the Auditor's functions. In 1947 the State Legislature transferred the duties of the Supervisor of Elections to the County Auditor as well. Since the members of both boards were the same, the names "Election Board" and "Canvassing Board" came to be used interchangeably. In 1969, when the Charter went into effect, the Manager of Records and Elections Division took over the election related duties of the Auditor and the Election Board ceased to exist. The Canvassing Board is still active, with the Manager of Records and Elections serving in place of the Auditor. As of 1995, the Canvassing Board members consisted of the Prosecuting Attorney or deputy, the Auditor or deputy, and the Chair of the Council or designee.

040.01-284 Minutes, 1927-1942
These files contain original typescript minutes of Election Board meetings and other related materials, including the texts of resolutions ies passed by the board and carbon copies of election results and other outgoing correspondence transmitted to city clerks and other relevant officials. For the earlier years, the ancillary materials are generally filed after the minutes. For the later years, these other materials are often filed before the minutes. No records for 1941 were found with this series and the minutes for 1937 include only those for the December 28th meeting.

Volume: 1.3 cu ft