Primary Election August 16, 2011

Transcription

1 Primary Election August 16, 2011 Media Briefing July 20, 2011 Important Dates: Military and overseas ballots mailed: June 30, 2011 Registration deadline mail and online: July 18, 2011 Voter pamphlets mailed : July 22, 2011 Public Logic and Accuracy test: July 25, :00 a.m. Accessible voting units available at Election Center: July 27, 2011 Ballots mailed: July 29, 2011 Registration deadline in-person (new voters only): August 8, 2011 Election Day: August 16, 2011 Results 8:15 p.m. Canvassing Board Meeting: August 26, :00 p.m. Canvassing Board Meeting Certification: August 31, :00 a.m. Important Numbers: Total registered voters: 412,294 Registered voters in this election: 366,522 Percentage of voters in this election: 88.9% Number of precincts in this election: 323 Expected Turnout: 21% 2009 Primary Election turnout: 19.23% 2007 Primary Election turnout: 24.46% What s on the ballot? Who s voting? The Primary Election is not countywide. The Primary ballot contains races with three or more candidates. Races with two or less candidates will be on the General Election ballot. This is why many voters will only be voting on a few offices or issues in the primary. Some voters will not vote at all in the primary. Jurisdictions with candidates or issues on the ballot Dupont Puyallup School District No. 3 West Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 3 Milton Tacoma School District No. 10 Central Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 6 Orting Bethel School District No. 403 Graham Fire and Rescue No. 21 Puyallup East Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 22 Sumner Anderson Island Park and Recreation Tacoma (District No. 1 only) Peninsula Metropolitan Park University Place Who s not voting? Auburn Carbonado Eatonville, McKenna and South Pierce County Fife City of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula Joint Base Lewis McChord Pacific South Prairie Steilacoom Wilkeson

2 What s New Vote-By-Mail Polling places are closed. For 17% of our voters this will be a big change. A ballot will be mailed to each voter. Mail (postage required) or drop off your ballot before August 16, A notice is being sent to former poll voters asking them to update their signature. Express Booths Express booths have been retired. Expensive to staff, maintain, move and store. Booths were breaking down after nearly two decades of use. Ballot Deposit Sites 25 sites across the County. Open 24/7. No postage required. All sites close 8:00 p.m. on Election Night. Voting Centers The Vote-By-Mail legislation closed the polls. Also required each county to establish voting centers. Six voting centers across the County Open Monday, August 15 th and Tuesday August 16 th 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Services provided: Voter registration. Accessible voting using a touch screen machine. Provisional ballots. Voter assistance. Voting Centers are not polling places. They are locations to get special assistance with voting. I voted Stickers We know voters love these stickers. Stickers are now provided in the voters pamphlet. Contacts: Julie Anderson, Pierce County Auditor Mike Rooney, Elections Manager (cell) (cell) julie.anderson@co.pierce.wa.us mrooney@co.pierce.wa.us VOTE (8683) pcelections@co.pierce.wa.us N:\Elections\ElectionData\2011_Elections\2011_Primary\Misc\Media Briefing\08_16_11_Media Briefing.docx

3 Vote-By-Mail Primary Election August 16, 2011 Fact Sheet Washington State adopts Vote-By-Mail. ESSB 5124 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor on April 5, The law is effective July 24, Pierce County no longer has the authority to conduct elections at traditional polling places. Polling places won t be open beginning with the August 16, 2011 election. Former poll voters will not need to do anything. A ballot will be mailed to each voter each election. This change impacts approximately 17%, or 64,785, of Pierce County voters. Poll voters will receive a notice regarding Vote- By-Mail this week. These voters are also asked to update their signature. ESSB 5124 requires each county to provide at least one voting center. Pierce County will have six voting centers. Voting centers are not polling places. They are an extension of our main office providing voter registration, accessible voting using a touch screen, provisional ballots and voter assistance. For More Information: (253) 798-VOTE (8683) pcauditor@co.pierce.wa.us

4 Ballot Deposit Sites Primary Election August 16, 2011 Fact Sheet 25 new ballot deposit sites available to drop off your ballot. Open now. No postage required. Open 24/7. Secure, made with ¼ steel. Large capacity (1,000 envelopes). Ballots must be returned in a signed ballot envelope. Ballot deposit sites close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Night, August 16, An inspirational quote about voting is printed on each box. Maps, directions and photos available online: piercecountywa.org/elections. Locations listed on back. Boxes manufactured by LaserFab, Inc. located in Fredrickson. For More Information: (253) 798-VOTE (8683) pcauditor@co.pierce.wa.us

5 Bonney Lake Bonney Lake South Park and Ride 184th Ave E Bonney Lake, WA Browns Point NE Police Substation 4731 Norpoint Way NE Tacoma, WA DuPont DuPont Ross Plaza 1500 Wilmington Dr DuPont, WA Eatonville Barney's Corner Meridian E Eatonville, WA Edgewood Edgewood City Hall th Ave E Edgewood, WA Fife Fife Municipal Court 3737 Pacific Hwy E Fife, WA Gig Harbor Gig Harbor Fire Station 6711 Kimball Dr Gig Harbor, WA Pt. Fosdick Safeway 4811 Pt. Fosdick Dr NW Gig Harbor, WA Purdy Fire Station th St NW Gig Harbor, WA Lakewood Lakewood City Hall 6000 Main St. SW Lakewood, WA Lakewood (SR512) Park and Ride South Tacoma Way Lakewood, WA Parkland/Spanaway Parkland/Spanaway Library Pacific Ave S Tacoma, WA Roy Y Park and Ride SR 507 and Pacific Ave S Spanaway, WA Puyallup Puyallup Library 324 South Meridian Puyallup, WA South Hill Library Meridian E Puyallup, WA Steilacoom Steilacoom Library 2950 Steilacoom Blvd Steilacoom, WA Sumner Sumner Library 1116 Fryer Ave Sumner, WA Tacoma Kandle Park Police Substation 5140 N 26th St Tacoma, WA nd Street Transit Center 1319 E 72nd St Tacoma, WA Pierce County Annex 2401 S 35th St Tacoma, WA Sound View Medical Plaza 3611 South D St Tacoma, WA Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities 6315 S 19th St Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome Park and Ride 610 Puyallup Ave E Tacoma, WA County-City Building 930 Tacoma Ave S Tacoma, WA nd Floor Lobby Open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday University Place University Place Fire Department 3631 Drexler Dr W University Place, WA 98466

6 Every voter should know Primary Election August 16, 2011 Fact Sheet You can mail or return your ballot anytime before Election Day. Voting begins as soon as ballots are mailed. We encourage you to get your ballot in early. Election Day is the final deadline for returning your ballot. Ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. If you mail your ballot on Election Day, check the mail pick-up time to ensure it will be postmarked on time. Why take the chance? Most ballots arrive the day before, day of, and one day after each election. Each election we have ballots that can t be counted because they are postmarked too late. November ,157 total One day too late 992 November ,307 total One day too late 1,153 I forgot to put my ballot in a secrecy envelope. Will my vote count? Yes. Your ballot is counted. Steps are taken to protect the privacy of your vote. The secrecy envelope is provided to keep votes secret when removed from the outer return envelope containing your name. Every voter s signature is checked. The signatures on your ballot envelope is checked every election. It must match before we can open and count your ballot. Signatures are compared to the signature on file with your voter registration. Be sure to sign with your everyday signature. Ballots without a signed declaration will not be counted. You will be contacted if your signature doesn t match or is missing. Voting every race or issue on your ballot is not required. You may choose to vote for any candidate or issue on the ballot. It s okay to skip a race. Do not use red ink when voting your ballot. Ballots are counted using optical scan ballot tabulators. Red inks can t be tabulated. A blue ink pen or a #2 pencil are the best marking devices. Black ink is also acceptable.

7 It s important to mark your ballot neatly. Stray marks, notes and other mistakes force us to duplicate your ballot. Keep your ballot clean. Ballots with stray marks require significant effort and money to prepare a duplicate ballot that is readable. Connect the arrow with a simple straight mark, don t rub back and forth or try to make the mark extra dark. Write-in candidates for fictitious characters ( my mom, Mickey Mouse ) are not counted and require additional effort and resources to process. Barcodes on the ballot do not identify the voter. Barcodes are used for mail processing and precinct tabulation. Barcodes identify the precinct and ballot type and are generic to the ballot type. These barcodes are the same as the UPC codes used at supermarkets. Voters do not register by political party in Washington State. When registering to vote we don t register by party. Washington State uses the Top Two Primary system. You may vote for any candidate on the ballot regardless of their party preference. Pierce County consistently has one of lowest voter turnouts in the state. Election Statewide Turnout Pierce County Turnout Statewide Rank 2009 Primary 31.04% 19.23% Not Available 2009 General 50.89% 43.01% 39 TH 2010 Primary 40.97% 35.91% 39 th 2010 General 71.24% 66.47% 37th We can do better. Please vote! For More Information: (253) 798-VOTE (8683) pcauditor@co.pierce.wa.us