The day after another low-turnout election – only 1 in 4 Seattle ballots was in by the close of voting last night – the County Council is following up on its directive for more permanent ballot dropboxes around the county. The one above, for example, is the last one West Seattle had – removed more than five years ago, with only temporary dropoff vans sent here, during the last few days before the close of voting, since then.
Right now, only 10 permanent dropboxes are in place around King County, but the in-progress proposal from Elections Director Julie Wise – with funding approved by the County Council today – would quadruple that to 40. No locations finalized yet, though. The proposal also will pay for increased voter outreach in communities where English is not the primary language. That would include printing voter materials in Spanish and Korean as well as Chinese and Vietnamese, the two languages in which they’re offered now. More details on the added-dropboxes plan are due in April; read today’s announcement in full here.
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