Sherril Huff is the current Elections Director for King County, having been appointed to the Office several years ago by King County Executive Ron Sims. Her tenure at King County Elections has seen a clean election process and numerous reforms. She deserves to be returned to the Office as the first elected Director of Elections in King County.
Last November voters approved a Republican sponsored initiative to make the Office an elected position, like it is in the other counties in the state. In other counties the Elections Office is run by an elected County Auditor. Sherril Huff has been endorsed by Auditors in 35 of Washington State’s 39 counties.
You can visit Sherril Huff’s website here.
But as important as this office is and the need to have a competent person with election experience run the office, the special election is currently only seeing 10% of the registered voters returning their ballot. The deadline for this all mail in ballot to be returned in next Tuesday, February 3, 2009. Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday or turned in to special drop boxes around the county on Tuesday.
Here is what some other people and organizations have to say about Sherril Huff and the other candidates:
Seattle Times 1/21/2009
“…she oversaw consolidation of three dispersed election facilities to one location and implemented important electronic security measures. Huff is credited with cleaning up the operation and dramatically improving organizational and cultural climate in elections.
The proof was in the latest election. King County produced a much smoother election in 2008 than it did in 2004 and Huff gets a lot of credit. Secretary of State Sam Reed has publicly complimented the county’s noticeable improvements. He did not endorse in the race but is very impressed with Huff’s work.”
FUSE : see Progressive Voters Guide here
“Sherril Huff has been highly regarded for her work managing the county’s 1.1 million voters since King County Executive Ron Sims appointed her in 2007. Of the five candidates vying for her office, Huff stands out for her experience and non-partisanship. She has helped the county institute more than 300 reforms in response to the 2004 county elections debacle and has helped conduct 21 successful elections since then.
A two-term county auditor, she has been endorsed by just about every county auditor in the state.Huff has been rated Outstanding by the Municipal League of King County, and has been endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington, Fuse Washington, SEIU Healthcare 775 NW, UFCW Local 21 and 35 Washington County Auditors (both Republicans and Democrats).”
environmental community:
“As a political organization Washington Conservation Voters is mindful of having sound election systems and processes that encourage voter participation,” said Sudha Nandagopal, a spokesperson for Washington Conservation Voters. “Sherril Huff has unparalleled experience in overseeing elections. We need someone who will continue running smooth elections for King County and push for accuracy and innovations to ensure a fair, open election.”
“The Sierra Club recognizes the important role that the Elections Director plays in ensuring fair King County elections. Sherril Huff knows exactly what it takes to run a high performing elections office,” said Scott Otterson, Political Chair for the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter. “As the county transitions to all-mail voting, it’s critical that Sherril Huff retains her current position and continues to pioneer and push for high standards.” November general election.”
NorthWest Progressive Institute Advocate:
“King County Elections has come a long way since the 2004 gubernatorial recount exposed a slew of problems. Under Huff’s leadership, the department has moved into a centrally located secure facility in Renton, the number of ballots with unmatched signatures in recent elections has plummeted, and accountability has been vastly strengthened. Huff’s calm demeanor has been readily evident in all the major debates that have been held so far.”
Peace Tree Farm :
“Sherril Huff is, in essence, the incumbent in the race. She was named Director of Elections a couple of years ago when it was (properly, IMHO) an appointed position. As Director of Elections, she has coordinated King County’s efficient and entirely uncontroversial elections ever since. In fact, as I noted a few weeks ago, King County was, amazingly, the second county in the state to report its final counts in the November general election.”
the Stranger:
“Why should you vote for Sherril Huff? Well, consider the competition. It includes: Chris Clifford, a Republican schoolteacher from Renton who’s also leading the effort to recall port commissioner Pat Davis; former Republican King County Council member—and emerging crank candidate—David Irons, who allegedly beat his own mother; disgraced former elections director Julie Anne Kempf, who was fired after she allegedly mailed ballots out late and lied about it; Pam Roach, a gun-totin’ Republican state senator with a vendetta against the King County Council and a violent passion for flowers; and Bill Anderson, a former bank manager who says he’s qualified to count votes because “votes are like checks,” but otherwise seems harmless enough.
Huff, in contrast, is competent, sane, and highly qualified. As elections director, she’s overseen steady improvement at an elections office whose incompetence was at the center of a Republican challenge to Governor Christine Gregoire’s win in 2004. She shouldn’t have to run for her job, but she deserves to keep it.”
You can check out all the candidates yourself by visiting the on line voters pamphlet put out by King County Elections
