As ballots for the August 6 primary start arriving, King County Elections dropboxes are now open – including the newest one in West Seattle, next to Morgan Junction Park [map], installed in May. In our photo above, our area’s King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda joined KC Elections Director Julie Wise for a brief ceremony this morning to dedicate and celebrate the box. They also talked about what’s new this election: Your ballot will arrive with a couple new features – the “I Voted!” sticker that was given out to people voting in person, and a list of the five dropboxes closest to your address. In West Seattle, besides the new dropbox, the locations are High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond), The Junction (south side of SW Alaska just east of 44th SW), and South Seattle College (6000 16th SW, on the driveway in front of the administration building), and the box by the White Center Library isn’t far (1409 SW 107th). KCE says dropboxes handle an average of 50 percent to 60 percent of all ballots in elections; they are emptied at least once a day by a team of two KC employees. Other datapoints: The boxes are made in Puyallup, weigh half a ton each, and are secured by four 8-inch bolts cemented into the ground.

(We’re told a school bus hit a dropbox and the box didn’t budge, though the bus suffered notable damage.) While Wise was there, we also asked her about the status of the ranked-choice voting system approved by Seattle voters two years ago. As we reported in this update last year, the 2022 ballot measure required it to be implemented for city elections by 2027 …. and that’s when Wise says it will happen. In the meantime, an advisory committee is being formed right now and will have its first meeting next month.

P.S. For this election, get your ballot in a dropbox by 8 pm August 6 – or in USPS mail so it’ll be postmarked no later than that date.