Why Does the Thurston County Ballot Processing Center Need to Be Improved?

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Thurston County plans to spend $372,000 to start designing improvements to its ballot processing center even as it holds back on improving the recently purchased Mottman Complex.

The ballot processing center currently operates out of the east building at the Mottman Complex, located at the intersection of Ferguson Street Southwest and 29th Avenue in Tumwater.

A preliminary cost estimate indicated remodeling the three-building complex may cost as much as $9.9 million, The Olympian previously reported. In June, the county purchased the complex for $5.6 million to help meet Auditor Mary Hall's urgent space needs.

Instead of committing to the full cost, the board decided to approach the project in phases. During a Tuesday agenda setting meeting, the board unanimously agreed to spend $372,000 on an initial design phase for the east building.

County Manager Ramiro Chavez presented the phased approached on Tuesday after the total cost estimate caused "sticker shock" among the board.

This phase will entail detailing the improvements at the ballot center, working with the Auditor's Office on the scope and schedule of those improvements and creating a clear financial plan for the project, according to county spokesperson Meghan Porter.

During the meeting, Commissioner and Board Chair Carolina Mejia said she thinks the board will be ready to continue improving the complex beyond the initial phase once more funding becomes available.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and there'll be additional funding that will come through and we can complete this," Mejia said. "I'm hoping that's the case."

In all, improvements to the ballot processing center are expected to cost about $3 million, according to a Feb. 10 presentation.

Hall said she felt a little surprised by the board's sticker shock given that about $10 million had previously been allocated for improvements to the complex in the county's Capital Improvement Plan.

Still, she said she's committed to searching and applying for state and federal grants to help cover the cost as it relates to her election division.

Why are the improvements needed?

County staff have yet to determine a timeline for the project, according to Porter. However, Hall said she hopes to have the improvements completed before the presidential primary in March 2024.



"We have to have it done by 2024," she said. "I cannot imagine having to conduct a presidential election in that facility. It's simply too small."

Hall said the improvements are necessary so she can follow best practices for ballot processing and add a second sorting machine, the lack of which is causing a bottleneck.

"We've been in this building since 1985, in the same footprint," Hall said. "Thurston County has grown a lot. As a result, so have our registered voters."

Additional space is also needed to accommodate office space and more staff. During the last presidential election, she said ballot checkers and signature inspectors packed the center to its limits.

With the onset of the pandemic, she said social distancing requirements led her to cut available seats in half.

More space will also help Hall accommodate additional observers to view the ballot processing center. Though she believes most county residents trust the process, she thinks having more observers will help counter disinformation.

"I want to be very transparent because people don't understand what happens to their ballot once they put it into a drop box or a mailbox," she said. "I think it's important for people to see the process and understand this process is done the same way across the country with the same checks and balances."

The improvements will also include security upgrades to limit access to the facility and protect equipment, she added.

"We've met with the Department of Homeland Security a couple of times at the ballot processing center and talked about best security practices," Hall said. "We need to put those sorts of things in place."

With this phased approach, work on an adjacent, south building will remain paused for now. That building will eventually house the county's records department and a voter registration center.

Improvements to that building are estimated to cost over $3.1 million with about $2.1 million of that going to the voter registration center, per the Feb. 10 presentation.

Hall said this part of the project will help consolidate her election division staff at the complex.

"It's very inefficient to have ballot processing at one location and voter registration at another location," Hall said. "You can't go with the ebb and flow and share staff."