Election ballot drop box installed for Ocean Shores

Mandated by the state

By Corey Morris Twin Harbors Newspaper Group • January 30, 2018 7:00 pm
Election ballot drop box installed for Ocean Shores

Ocean Shores has a new ballot drop box just in time for the Feb. 13 special election, with the North Beach School District replacement levy on the ballot.

The ballot drop box was installed Monday at the corner of Minard Avenue and West Chance a la Mer Street NW in front of the Convention Center. The drop box will replace the election center drop site in use before the box was installed. The drop box was purchased by the county for $2,400.

In 2016, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 5472 mandating ballot drop boxes in most communities.

The bill states “the county auditor must establish a minimum of one ballot drop box per (15,000) registered voters in the county and a minimum of one ballot drop box in each city, town and census-designated place in the county with a post office.”

Following the passage of the bill, the county installed a drop box in Elma. The county also has a drop box in Hoquiam and one at the county Courthouse. The drop box for Ocean Shores is similar to the drop box in front of the county Courthouse.

Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler said it seemed logical to put the box at the Convention Center “because it is where people are used to going to drop off their ballots. We entered into an agreement with the County where they are responsible for the box, maintaining and emptying it as needed.”

The North Beach school levy is the only item on the ballot for Ocean Shores voters in the upcoming Feb. 13 special election. There also is an Ambulance Transport Service levy on the ballot for voters in Fire District No. 7 to pay for emergency medical services and ambulance service.

The county also is looking to install a ballot drop box in Westport.

In total, the county needs to install more than a dozen drop boxes to be in compliance with the law. Commissioner Randy Ross said he expects that ballot box installation will slow down after the Westport drop box.

“We’re going forward as we can on these, but we’re also planning on putting the state on notice that this is an unfunded mandate,” Ross said. “We’ll put a claim into the state.”