County elections office to open for business again in Renton on Monday

The elections office moved in 2009 from 919 S.W. Grady Way in south Renton because of the potential risk of flooding by the Green River. A winter storm that year had damaged an abutment on the Howard Hanson Dam, raising concern about the potential for flooding throughout the Green River Valley.

June 14, 2011 1:32 pm
Mayflower project manager Gary Richter carefully rolls off a piece of King County Election’s Pitney Bowes machine that sorts ballots into the window at the election office building in Renton Wednesday.
Mayflower project manager Gary Richter carefully rolls off a piece of King County Election’s Pitney Bowes machine that sorts ballots into the window at the election office building in Renton Wednesday.

 

King County Elections is moving back to Renton, after a roughly two-year stay at Boeing Field in Tukwila.

The elections office moved in 2009 from 919 S.W. Grady Way in south Renton because of the potential risk of flooding by the Green River. A winter storm that year had damaged an abutment on the Howard Hanson Dam, raising concern about the potential for flooding throughout the Green River Valley.

The elections office will open to the public on Monday, although the move is happening this week.

The Renton location will now be Elections’ mailing address and physical address, and the location for the public to visit for assistance or to observe elections in progress.

“As we prepare for the August primary, it’s great to be back in our home facility with space that fully accommodates our state-of-the-art equipment and technology,” said Elections Director Sherril Huff. “It also offers convenience for the public to visit and observe the election process. We hope to have lots of visitors stop in for a tour during our upcoming elections.”

The building features a viewing loop around the area where ballots are processed during an election, which allows the public to take a self-guided tour to observe the process in action.

Election officials encourage the public to visit the Renton location to observe the upcoming primary election. The best days to visit are weekdays Aug. 1-19, during business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Aug. 16).

The county used  federal stimulus dollars to make energy upgrades to the state-of-the-art facility it moved into in 2007.

The county estimated in 2009 that floodwaters could reach 10 feet deep at the building it owns on Grady Way. There are two other key county facilities nearby, the sewage-treatment plant and the headquarters of the Department of Development and Environmental Services, which didn’t move.