In terms of overseeing elections, King County voters deserve a pacesetter with expertise and who is devoted to equity and open to innovation. Julie Smart brings that and extra to the election workplace and ought to be reelected to a 3rd time period in November.
Because the 2020 elections, Smart has fought off voter intimidation efforts, answered 1000’s of calls and emails about election fraud, and labored to verify voters can train their proper with confidence within the election course of.
To extend voter participation, Smart advocates educating highschool college students in regards to the significance of voting and for preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds. She stated her workplace has employed a marketing consultant to assist get teenagers engaged in voter schooling early. Her work has paid off with 91% of voting-eligible King County residents registered to vote.
Smart has labored for King County Elections for 23 years, beginning as a clerk working the cellphone financial institution. Since she was first elected in 2015, the county has enormously expanded poll drop field places from 10 to greater than 75.
Smart supported Senate Invoice 5208, which turned regulation this spring. The regulation permits for on-line voter registration utilizing the final 4 digits of an individual’s Social Safety quantity.
As well as, Seattle will want Smart’s experience because it prepares to modify to ranked-choice voting by fall 2027.
In terms of poll integrity, Washington’s vote-by-mail system is among the many nation’s most secure. But that didn’t cease some from stoking concern amongst residents that shadiness was going down at elections workplaces right here and throughout the state. With former President Donald Trump more likely to reactivate groups of conspiracy theorists for the 2024 election, King County wants an election director who can intelligently defend our voting system. Smart is that particular person.
Nevertheless, we do discover troubling a current incident during which the Republican and Democratic events weren’t notified or invited to witness a Logic and Accuracy Take a look at of a brand new backup server. Smart defends this by claiming state regulation doesn’t require such witnesses, however acknowledges that her workplace will notify each events sooner or later. Moreover, a safety digital camera that usually would have recorded the check was inoperable. “This was a collection of unlucky occasions however we now have put issues in place to verify it doesn’t occur once more,” Smart advised the editorial board.
Smart’s opponent, Doug Basler, didn’t make himself accessible to The Seattle Instances editorial board for an endorsement interview. Amongst his concepts for the workplace is a return to in-person, paper-ballot voting. In a area the place know-how abounds, King County residents anticipate elected officers to be forward-thinking, not caught in a long time passed by. Voters ought to once more put their confidence in Julie Smart for King County elections director.
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