PAY ME: Washington Counties Ask State to Cover “Fair Share” of Election Costs

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All of Washington State’s county auditors have signed on to a joint letter asking the state to cover its fair share of election costs. TDN has more:

All three Cowlitz County Commissioners — Joe Gardner, Dennis Weber and Arne Mortensen — have also signed the letter in support and are expected to discuss it during their meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Cowlitz County Administration Building at 207 Fourth Ave. N, Kelso.

Conducting elections on behalf of every level of government is expensive, Fundingsland said in the press release, because it requires counties have election security and updated registration and ballot-counting systems for the state’s 4.4 million registered voters.

On each ballot there may be a mixture of districts such as the county, cities or schools, she said, and they each pay a portion of the election costs based on the number of registered voters within their boundaries.

The county officials seek to convince the state to cover its share of ballot costs every year and not just when state-specific contests are on the ballot:

The state, however, is only required to pay a prorated share of the costs for primaries or general elections in odd-numbered years, when state officers or measures are on the ballot, or for costs related to filling federal vacancies.

“The state Legislature has decided to ‘dine and dash’ during even years, when the vast majority of their state offices are on the ballot. Despite being given multiple opportunities to do the right thing and change the law, the state instead sticks your cash-strapped county government with the bill,” Fundingsland said in the release.

Legislation mandating the payments has stalled in Olympia:

Rep. Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican, introduced a House bill this year requiring the state to reimburse a prorated share of election costs to counties for primary and general elections in even-numbered years, and all federal primary and general election costs.

However, the House bill and its Senate companion bill both stalled in committee. With the legislative session scheduled to end on Sunday, county auditors are making a final push this week to try and get the legislation passed, Fundingsland said.

The county officials are quick to note that the costs they’re incurring are important and necessary in order to serve voters – but they need help paying for them:

Proponents of the Fair Share Election Funding bill say it is an attempt to fund “unfunded mandates” from the state. Multiple supporters from various auditor’s offices testified in January in the House Committee on State Government and Tribal Relations and the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections. No one testified against the bill, according to legislative documents.

“Same-day voter registration, more ballot drop boxes, and pre-paid postage are important additions to help improve voter access. However, they are costly additions that have been mandated by your state legislators,” Fundingsland said in the release. “They are either not funded fully or not funded at all, creating more unfunded mandates to county government who already struggle to meet other obligations in providing public health services, law enforcement, courts, and a myriad of other statutorily and constitutionally required programs and services.”