A bill passed by the Washington Legislature and signed by the governor this year could cause some significant changes regarding places to drop off voting ballots.
The new law requires more ballot boxes across the state.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey spoke before the Ridgefield City Council about the development during its regular meeting July 27. He was ostensibly there to discuss the addition of a ballot drop box on the eastern side of town, to be located at North First Circle immediately north of the roundabout to the east of the Interstate 5 interchange.
Kimsey explained the benefits of the location, which allows greater accessibility than popup locations at the Ridgefield Church of the Nazarene for those with disabilities.
“One thing we know about the permanent ballot drop boxes is people do find them,” Kimsey said. He mentioned the first box in downtown Vancouver was not placed in a particularly visible area, though he said it gets “incredible” usage during elections.
Initially, Kimsey had discussed with Ridgefield City Manager Steve Stuart the possibility of keeping the Church of the Nazarene polling location in the city open. However, recent legislation changed his office’s priorities as a mandate of more ballot boxes hangs over their heads.
The chief requirement of the legislation passed through Senate Bill 5472 is the need for at least one dropbox for every 15,000 registered voters with a minimum of one box in each city, town and designated place in a county that has a post office.
“I never heard of a census-designated place before,” Kimsey remarked at the meeting, “but apparently there are some in Clark County.”
CDPs include places like Salmon Creek and Orchards in unincorporated Clark County with close to 20,000 people each, as well as places like Amboy with 1/10 of that population.
In an interview following the meeting, Kimsey touched on the issue with Amboy, as currently there is a dropoff box in nearby Yacolt.
“A couple of miles is going to separate those two locations,” Kimsey said. “It’s a little silly.”
He said it was worse in some of the small counties in eastern Washington where due to the city, town and CDP mandate there would likely have to be boxes for hundreds of registered voters, not the 15,000-per-box target at the front of the legislation.
An assessment from the Washington Secretary of State’s Office reported that Clark County would need an additional 13 ballot boxes to meet that mandate, close to tripling the amount of boxes already placed or scheduled to be placed.
As for now, a total of how much the installation of needed boxes will cost has yet to be determined. For reference, the box for Ridgefield would be the county’s most expensive one so far at $18,000, Kimsey said.
Kimsey wasn’t the only one in opposition to the bill, mentioning that the Washington Association of County Officials had written a letter to the governor voicing concerns. He said he had his own suggestion, requiring 90 percent of registered voters to be within 3 miles of a drive-by ballot drop box.
In Clark County, the legislation is particularly irksome given what it would need to come into compliance.
“We don’t have people contacting us complaining about the lack of dropboxes in Clark County,” Kimsey said.
During the meeting, Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow asked about ballot deadlines, specifically asking whether or not ballots would be accepted “15 seconds” before the deadline.
Kimsey said one of the complications of the dropboxes is having the supervision required to follow voting rules. He explained that two individuals would be needed to be present at every box at the 8 p.m. deadline to ensure those in line at the deadline are allowed to vote, but not after.
Onslow said he asked because Ridgefield Mayor Pro-Tem Lee Wells was notorious for waiting until the last minute to cast a vote.
“I’m the last man. They turn the lights out when I get there,” Wells said.
The new Ridgefield box will be open for the November general election. The Church of the Nazarene location will also be open for November, but will be shuttered in 2018 as a polling location.
