Nearly 1,200 ballots go missing in North Bend, delayed due to glitch

Published 4:40 pm Sunday, October 30, 2011

Most voters in the Valley received their November general election ballots in the last week, but nearly 1,200 in North Bend’s vicinity will have to wait for a few days to cast their decisions.

The King County Elections office reported about 11,000 Eastside voters did not get ballots when about 1.1 million were mailed on Nov. 19.

Si View Parks District reported that 1,189 ballots were never actually mailed to North Bend voters due to a glitch. These ballots were to be mailed Saturday, Oct. 29, and should reach voters on Monday and Tuesday.

Similar problems have been discovered in Issaquah, Kirkland, and Redmond.

“We investigated the matter and discovered a technical problem associated with part of our voter database that resulted in exclusion of these ballots from being mailed on the date originally scheduled,” said Sherril Huff, Elections Director. “Quality assurance is an important component of our elections processes and while we regret that this event occurred, I’m pleased that the reviews we have in place helped us in identifying and problem solving the issue.”

A small percentage of voters contact King County in the course of every election about not receiving their ballot. The Elections Department encourages voters to call the voter hotline (206-296-VOTE) if this happens. Voter communications always include reminders to contact the Elections Department if your ballot has not been received in the week after it was mailed out to you.

Voters are encouraged to contact the Elections Department if they have not yet received a ballot in the mail or if they have any questions about voting in the November General Election.

All voters have until Nov. 8 to vote and get ballots postmarked or returned to a ballot drop box.