The county’s elections office has left Renton for familiar territory.
Forced out of Renton by the potential for massive flooding of the Green River, the county’s Elections Division opened its new headquarters Monday at Boeing Field in a spot from which – on a temporary basis – it once ran the operational side of the county’s elections.
The new office is at 9010 East Marginal Way S. in Tukwila in a county-owned building, just north of the Museum of Flight.
Two key county facilities near the former elections office in Renton won’t – or can’t – move, including the headquarters of the Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) on Oakesdale Avenue and the Metro sewage-treatment plant on Monster Road.
The sewage plant sits above what is the expected high-water mark in a massive flood, but it would become an island, according to county spokeswoman Natasha Jones. That would cut off access to the sprawling facility, forcing employees to shelter in place, said Jones.
The county will have supplies on hand for workers, she said.
High water would affect the entire sewage system, which is gravity fed, she said. If sewage can’t flow, it could back up into homes or businesses or toilets might not flush, she said, including on the hills above the Green River Valley.
The county also is warning people to not remove manhole covers in an effort to relieve pressure on the system, because someone or a vehicle could fall into a manhole, she said.
County officials figure crews can protect the DDES building with sandbags, Jones said. Some employees will telecommute if they can’t get to the office and some services are available online, too.
The move of the elections headquarters was made quietly last week.
The county consolidated all of its elections functions in the state-of-art, highly secure building in Renton in 2007.
Elections Director Sherril Huff said the county wasn’t able to duplicate every new security feature at the new office, but “we have come as close as we can.”
There isn’t an observation loop for observers to walk around the entire operation. However, entry to secure areas is controlled by a card scan and fingerprint identification, she said. And there aren’t as many security cameras.
Still, she said, “we have a very high level of security.”
Whether the elections office returns to Renton and Grady Way is still uncertain, although officials have said the move is temporary.
But, when a move back would occur is the most frequently asked question, said Huff.
“I wish we knew for sure,” she said.
And the elections office may be facing a deadline to move from the new Boeing Field office because there is another use being considered for the office, Huff said.
When the elections office returns depends on the repairs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is making to Howard Hanson Dam, a flood-control project on the Green River in the Cascades. Final repairs could take several years, although the corps expects to have an initial fix – a grout curtain – to slow the leaking in the dam’s right abutment done by early November.
The county has estimated that floodwaters could reach 10 feet deep at the elections office at 919 S.W. Grady Way.
The county had 70 permanent employees at the Renton office and during an election had about 500 temporary workers to process and count mail-in and other ballots.
The 24-hour ballot drop box will remain outside of the former Renton elections office in the Earlington Business Center.
ELECTION SERVICES
All county election services will take place at the new location in Tukwila at 9010 East Marginal Way S., including:
• In-person voter registration
• All mail ballot processing
• Accessible voting: Oct. 14 to Nov. 3
• Ballot drop box, open during business hours
The office is located off Interstate 5, adjacent to Boeing Field, just north of the Museum of Flight, at the intersection of 90th Street and East Marginal Way South.
General parking is available behind the building.
