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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
November 15, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 15, 2012
 
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By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty.com Election day has come and gone, but the Mason County Auditor's Office was still counting and process- ing ballots Friday, when the results of late ballots were released. The process of receiving, counting and verifying bal- lots is time consuming and complicated, but assures the accuracy and a voter's privacy, Mason County Au- ditor Karen Herr said. When the auditor's of- fice receives ballots, they are sorted in sets of 50, and sent to a team of employees trained by the Washington State Patrol to verify voter's signatures on the ballot en- velopes. Before taking the ballot out of the envelope, this team uses special elec- tion software to scan the barcode on the envelope, .MP3"s .Gameboy Advance which brings up an elec- tronic version of the voter's registration card. Then, working in pairs, the employees compare the signature on the envelope to the one on the voter's regis- tration card. If the signatures don't match, the office leaves the envelope closed, and sends the voter a letter asking for clarification. After the signature is verified, a team of employ- ees opens the envelope and sends the set of ballots, still in security sleeves, to a sec- ond team. Having the second team handle only the ballot, and not the envelope, maintains the secrecy of a voter's iden- tity, Herr said. Each year, election ob- servers "-- members of the public invited to learn about the election process -- spend time in the auditor's office to see the ballot-counting pro- cess. Herr said staff often invites the observer to fol- low their own ballot through the process to test the safe- guards for voting secrecy. "At the end, nobody has been able to say where their ballot is," she said. After pulling ballots out of their security sleeves, the second team checks for anomalies, including stray pen marks that could con- fuse the ballot scanner, or ballots marked with pencil, to Thank You everyone for throwing me such a wonderful 95'h birthday party! What a nice surprise; it was incredible and I am delighted! Yo, u are why l am here.., l love you alll --Nita RESTAURANT & GALLERY Open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday Since 1952 Nancy Graves, left, Valerie Sorenson, Lauren Orme and Fina Ormond, election County Auditor's Office, work to count and process late ballots on Friday. Journal photos by Natalie Johnson staff in the Mason which don't scan properly, sion chair, Lynda Ring Er- Then the ballots are ickson, was a candidate, so scanned, and resolved. Re- Commissioner Steve Bloom- solving a ballot involves field served on the canvass- checking for under voting ingboard. -- or missing a category -- The auditor's office has to and over voting -- or filling process replacement ballots, in two boxes in one category, and those printed from the They also check for write- Internet, separately from in candidates. Some voters mailed ballots. Because even draw arrows in at- they aren't the same size or tempts to clarify their vote. format, they don't fit in the '%Ve have very strict scanner, and staffhas to du- guidelines on what is a vote plicate the vote onto actual in Washington state," Herr ballots. said. At the end of the process, If staff in the auditor's all scanned ballots go onto office can't resolve an is- a computer disk. The disk's sue, the ballot goes to the software only allows it to be canvassing board, which is opened at 8 p.m. on election made up of Herr, the chair day, or 4 p.m. on Friday, of the Mason County Board when additional votes were of Commissioners and Ma- released, Herr said. son County Prosecutor Mike The auditor's office will Dorcy. count all remaining ballots, able signatures, or were flagged during the resolving process, on Nov. 27, when the election will be certified by the Washington Secre- tary of State. Fresh Whole Cooked Crab (subject to availability) Coho Fillets lltb. Pork Crown Roast 10-16 lb. !99 1Hi ) Lb. Tur Duc Hens Fresh Turkey Breast ] F Breakfast Sausage i~ U ":~:i:i i-< ~:~ i~i~ ..... ~:~