Fix, don't elect, the election office

A proposal by two Republican Metropolitan King County Council members to make the county's top elections official an elected position should be abandoned immediately.

The melodramatic proposal by Rob McKenna and Jane Hague is overreaction to a mistake that, while serious, should not trump elections reforms under way.

King County already has an elected official in charge of elections. That's Executive Ron Sims, a Democrat, who has taken righteous heat for the late mailing of ballots last fall and more problems in the spring. The elections superintendent was fired and the elections manager resigned.

Changes in the elections office have not had a chance to work. Sims hired Dean Logan, the state's well-respected elections director, to run the county's elections. His first day on the job was Tuesday.

The council now has authority to vet the county's top two elections officers through a confirmation process. A council committee has recommended major technological upgrades to help the office keep up with the way elections are evolving, including more people requesting absentee ballots.

Elections, especially in a county this size, are too important to be subject to the vagaries of the elections process. Better to hire awonkish professional than take a chance at the ballot box.

All that said, County Council members, voters and especially Sims ought to be concerned about a mistake that sent 98 Bothell ballots to Renton. Sims is blaming the subcontractor for a typo in a computer request. Nevertheless, Sims ultimately is responsible for any elections errors, whether made by his employees or his contractor.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, whose office has supported the county as it works through the problems, says this type of mistake is not uncommon during any election. The trick is correcting it immediately. The erroneous ballots were mailed out last week. The mistake was caught quickly and new ballots are on the way for the Sept. 16 primary election.

McKenna and Hague should shelve their proposal and give the reforms and the new elections manager time to work. Their efforts would be better expended finding money to finance necessary technological upgrades and to bring the county elections department to full strength.