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Page A-12 - Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020
Elections: Mason County staff ran 5 electi0ns in 2020
continued from A-1
County voters,” McGuire wrote. “They have run five
elections this year, moved their offices from the sec-
ond to first floor of our building and done more public
outreach and greater transparency than we have ever
had here, all during a global pandemic. They all de—
serve along vacation.”
McGuire wrote that his office was well-prepared
for uncertainty and was ready to change its plans and
adjust to circumstances as needed.
He credited two grants as being critical to the elec-
tion’s overall success.
The first came under the CARES Act and the sec-
ond as a gift from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
and his wife, Priscilla Chan, and helped pay for re-
modeling of the ballot processing room that added a
public lobby and for an outreach program that en-
couraged people to vote early. ,
Election staff also purchased a larger drop box in
the alley next to the building housing the Auditor’s
Office and another at the Twin Totems store on the
Skokomish Reservation.
In addition to staff, the Shelton High School Naval
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps assisted the
office on Nov. 2 and 3, helping direct voters to drop
boxes and other tasks. McGuire called the NJROTC
assistance a “huge help.”
“While there were a few small bumps along the
way, we had excellent preparation and some good
luck that led to a smooth election,” McGuire wrote.
“Having so many people vote early meant that we
were able to report the vast majority of votes on Tues-
day night and we are always happy about that.
“I was uneasy about the first major election with
same-day voter registration, because we had to pre-
pare for a complete unknown in terms of the number
of people that would show up on Election Day.”
McGuire wrote that he was given an estimate done
by an election expert at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology that they would have 2,348 people in
their office on Tuesday to register to vote or get a re-
placement ballot, and that his office had to be pre-
pared for that.
“I knew that number of people would overwhelm
us, so we closed the motor vehicle licensing counter
on Monday and Tuesday and were prepared to use
that staff and space to handle that crowd,” McGuire
wrote. “My staff all pitched in and prepared, but hap-
pily we did not face that number of people in one day.”
McGuire also credited US. Postal Service staff in
Shelton and throughout the state.
“We were able to arrange to have a special truck
come from the Tacoma Processing Center to the Shel-
ton post office on the Sunday before the election and
we got to pick up those ballots on Sunday so that we
.mfifi
Miguel Chipres of Shelton puts his ballot in the box in front of the Mason
County Voting Center
around 6 pm. Nov. in downtown Shelton. Journal photo by Shawna Whe/an
were prepared for serving people on Monday and
Tuesday.”
Another key to a smooth election, according to Mc-
Guire, was having access to grant money to conduct
public outreach and get correct information out to the
county’s voters, ensuring that there wasn’t a void to
fill with misinformation.
“We were able to do two countywide mailers and
an insert in the Journal, plus a lot of radio and cable
TV advertising,” McGuire wrote. “We also devoted
a lot of staff time to providing good information on
Facebook. I will let others decide whether we were
successful, but I am very happy with our efforts.”
With the bulk of the election now in the rearview
mirror, the Auditor’s Office will reach out to voters
with issues related to unmatched signatures or those
who forgot to sign.
Voters have until Nov. 23, the day prior to certifi-
cation, to cure problems and have their votes count.
The county’s canvassing board, which is composed
of county commission chair Sharon Trask, prosecut-
ing attorney Michael Dorcy and McGuire, will meet
twice in the final process of certifying the election.
The first meeting is Nov. 23, where the board will
be tricky.”
decide on ballots with issues that election staff was
unable to resolve, including the decision on rejecting
ballots. .
“The canvassing board has delegated to my staff
the authority to accept signatures and postmarks
that they can verify, but reserved the decision about
rejecting ballots,” McGuire wrote. “The board will go
through ballot envelopes,-referred by the staff, and
make final decisions about signatures and smudged
postmarks, mostly. The decisions about unsignedbal-
lots and late postmarks are easy, but signatures can
Once those decisions are made, accepted ballots
are tallied and the board will reconvene Nov. 24 to
certify the election and sign the final canvass.
“Urban counties had issues with lines of cars
around drive—up drop boxes and large crowds of people
registering to vote on Election Day,” McGuire wrote.
“We were able to avoid most of that because so many
voters got their ballots back to us on time. Overall,
the feeling among my colleagues is one of relief. We
got through a tough, contentious election with only a
few isolated issues that mostly involved people want-
ing to vote.”
Grapeview port commissioners disappointed with results
Justin Johnson
just/n@masonoounty. com
[Following the defeat of the Port of Grapeview’s
levy lid lift measure on the Nov. 3 ballot, the port’s
three commissioners expressed disappointment with
its failure. , | _~
“We were completely overwhelmed at the rejec-
tion,” Glenn Carlson, District 3 commissioner, wrote
in an email to the Shelton-Mason County Journal.
“Our present levy is about 3 cents which has been
in existence since the ’90s. In 1991, almost 30 years
ago, it was .03758. In 2020 that .037 58 would have
to be .08 cents per thousand to have the same pur-
chasing power. We Were only asking for a 1 cent in-
crease which would have put us at what it was 30
years ago.”
Ofthe 2,121 voters, more than 72% —— 1,528 —— re-
jected it, while 593 voted “yes.”
Port commissioner and president Jean Farmer
wrote that the port has been frugal with its spend-
ing, waiving the commissioners’ per diems for special
meeting and relying on volunteers that donate “thou-
sands of hours” to port projects.
“The recent Washington Public Ports Association
award for creative partnership for 2020 was a nice
thank you, but the recognition by our locals was very
discouraging,” Farmer wrote. ’
Port District 1 commissioner John Anderson —
whose district includes Mason'Lake — said his dis-
trict’s tally was disappointing.
“We just spent $1,000 of our feeble treasury to in-
stall no wake buoys and signage for water safety on
Mason Lake,” Anderson wrote. “We were about to ad-
dress noise on the lake, but I’m having a withdrawal
of enthusiasm.”
COVID: Officials Wary as indOor holiday Season begins
continued from page A-1
people are falling prey to “COVID fa-
tigue.”
“More people, seem to have less
drive to do the necessary mitiga-
tion work of masking, hand hygiene
and social distancing,” Stein said.
“It seems to be younger individuals,
which is driving our average age of
cases down, and our number of cases
up.” .
Stein met virtually with the state
secretary of health and the state
health officer, along with the gover—
nor, on the afternoon of Nov. 10 to be-
gin mapping out strategies for reduc—
ing COVID cases.
Stein said he’s worried the rising
numbers reflect a surge that started
in September, which is especially
troubling as the state heads into win-
ter. A
“Not only is it getting darker, cold-
er and rainier, but the holidays are
when families traditionally get to-
gether indoors,” Stein said. “It’s a bit
different from the number of outdoor
events that tend to be held during
Memorial Day and the Fourth of July,
whose risk of transmission is less.”
Because winter is already the re-
spiratory virus season for Washing-
ton, Stein said family gatherings
could promote even more coronavirus
, exposures within families.
The fall surge has already erased
progress the state made this summer,
and state Secretary of Health John
Wiesman said he fears that such dis-
ease transmission increases could
overwhelm the state’s hospital sys-
tems and its ability to conduct contact
tracing.
“Each one of us needs to take im-
mediate action to avoid new restric-
tions and prevent our hospitals from
becoming overwhelmed,” said Lacy
Fehrenbach, deputy secretary of
health for COVID-19 response. “We
are all tired and want to spend time
with loved ones during the holidays
and continue to progress toward
safely reopening schools, but high
community rates increase the risk of
every single activity we do. Unfortu-
nately, the virus does not get tired or
take holidays.”
Stein suggested families celebrate
virtual holidays and even wear masks
while interacting with members of
their own households. The state rec-
ommends limiting in-person gather-
ings, by attendance, frequency and
duration, and maximizing the ven-
tilation of wherever such gatherings
take place. .
In addition to conferring with state
officials, Stein is also providing ad-
vice to local school districts, although
Stein said he defers to the authority
and educational ability of the school
districts to impart their own safety
strategies to their staff and families.
More COVID-19 data can be found
-on the Department of Health website
and in_ the state’s risk assessment
dashboard, and additional resources
for the holidays are available at coro—
navirus.wa.gov/gatherings.
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