King County Elections will operate as a separate division within county government with the sole responsibility of conducting fair and accurate elections under legislation adopted by the King County Council.

"We are making Elections its own division to allow management to focus exclusively on ensuring accurate, fair elections where every vote is counted, and every voter's privacy protected," said Councilman Dow Constantine, co-sponsor of the legislation.

"Elections are too important to be buried in bureaucracy," said Councilmember Larry Phillips. "This move will allow managers to give elections the full attention they deserve in order to administer fair, accurate, open, and smooth elections."

Two separate panels appointed by the Council to advise on elections improvements, The Elections Center and the Citizens' Elections Oversight Committee, have recommended making elections a stand-alone function. The Elections Center's audit of elections operations specifically recommended that elections be made a separate division within DES.