Auditor's race so far lacks rival

Sen. Romero says extended session kept her from taking on GOP appointee

LORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published July 1

THURSTON COUNTY -- With about one month left before candidates must file to run for office, the competition for Thurston County auditor is at least one runner short of a race.

The lone candidate who has registered her campaign with the Public Disclosure Commission is Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman.

Wyman was appointed to the position in January after longtime Auditor Sam Reed was elected Washington's secretary of state. Now, Wyman must win election to the office in November.

Filing week for candidates is July 23-27 at the auditor's office.

Thurston County Democratic Party Chairman Dave Kempher is confident the party will have a candidate to run against Wyman by the filing deadline.

"We're not about to give up this one," Kempher said.

Earlier in the year, state Rep. Sandra Romero, D-Olympia, expressed an interest in running for the office, but said she will not run this year.

"The (legislative) session is not ending, and I have not been able to raise money or to campaign," Romero said.

Romero said she would not feel right campaigning until the legislative session is over, and it has grown too late.

Romero didn't know if she will run for the office at another time.

"I don't ever want to close doors," she said.

The county auditor oversees elections, licensing, recording of property documents and county government finance.

Wyman announced her candidacy in late March, and has been doing "door-belling and more door-belling" since then.

In the six months she has served as auditor, Wyman said she has learned to take on the leadership aspects of the position.

"You don't get to turn to anyone. It's you. It's no longer just giving my opinion," she said.

Almost any decision will be criticized by someone, she said, so "you have to decide what you're willing to stand up and be criticized for."

Because the office had several positions open, Wyman took the opportunity to reorganize the staffing somewhat, eliminating two administrative positions.

She's also consolidating the licensing and recording areas of the auditor's office to provide more flexible customer service.

Wyman said she is running because of her interest in elections and the future of how they are run.

Elections are in the national eye after the controversial vote in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, when thousands of disputed punch-card ballots were not counted.

"I think we're probably going to see an end to punch-card voting," she said.

Thurston is a punch-card county, as most in Washington state are, and Wyman is hoping that any mandate to change will wait for a couple of years for technology to evolve.

What happened in Florida "had very little to do with the system of voting and everything to do with their policies and procedures for counting," Wyman said.

Thurston County would not have the kind of problem Florida did for several reasons, Wyman said, because:

-Thurston election workers preinspect ballots before they go into the vote-counting machine. Chad-checking teams have specific guidelines on how to handle a punch card where a chad is not entirely gone -- it must have at least two corners dislodged before it can be removed.

-Thurston's voting machines are regularly cleaned and maintained, with loose chads removed immediately after elections.

"I'm not talking rocket science here," Wyman said.

-Thurston allows "provisional" voting if a voter shows up at the wrong site on election day. Workers have ballots set aside and allow that person to vote, then the name is carefully checked at the auditor's office to ensure he or she did not already vote before the vote is counted.

-After each election, workers compile reports on under-votes and over-votes to watch for possible problem areas. In an over-vote, a person voted for two candidates in one race, and in an under-vote a person voted for no candidates in a race.

If Thurston County had 16,000 ballots disqualified in 1996, as one Florida county did, "That would have been a big red flag to us that something was wrong," Wyman said.

The Florida problem should have been addressed in 1996 and wasn't, she said.

Whatever is the coming change in how elections are run, Wyman said she wants to be part of it.

"The biggest loss we had in 2000 was a loss of (voter) confidence," Wyman said.

Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431.

Candidate bio

- Name: Kim Wyman

- Age: 38

- Party: Republican

- Currently: Thurston County auditor, appointed in January to replace Sam Reed, who was elected secretary of state.

- Background: Thurston County elections manager for seven years, was records manager before that. Also worked for city of Lakewood, Calif., and as a civilian for the Army. Master's degree in public administration from Troy State University.

- Family: Husband, John; children, Renee, 9, and Jordan, 6.

On the web:

Thurston County Auditor.

Thurston County Democrats.

Thurston County Republican Party.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

back to main Legislature 2001 index