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Elections office reports low turnout and issues with new ballot-box pilot
Summary
Elections staff reported about 17% turnout at the primary so far and described problems with a new ballot‑box pilot (county is first in Washington to test model); the box costs $12,500 and will be funded by grants if it works as promised, officials said.
County elections staff told commissioners turnout for the primary was low so far and described a pilot of a new ballot-drop box that has operational problems.
"Turnout is really terrible. I was talking to the girls this morning. We're at 17% turnout," the elections lead said, adding that standard pre‑election patterns may double returns in the two days before election day. The elections representative said the county is the first in Washington testing the new box and that it was designed for other states' envelope sizes and is not feeding reliably for local envelopes. "The total cost of the box is $12,500 if and when it's working for Cowlitz County as promised," the elections official said, and noted grant funding covers the purchase when it is operational.
Officials said the elections fund has received a recurring grant of about $80,000 from the secretary of state's office in recent years; until this year the funds had been used or routed to IT, but a statutory separation required the monies to remain with elections. The office estimated current cash in the elections fund at roughly $725,000 and said many large election expenses occur late in the year (post-primary). The vendor remains engaged and county staff will continue to use the device during the general election while fixes are applied.
