Nearly one in three Washington voters live in King County — and for years, the state’s largest county has been the only one with an appointed, not directly elected, elections chief. In the other 38 counties, the elected County Auditor has this task.

But voters changed all that with a charter amendment — and are currently balloting by mail for their very first popularly elected election director.  Tuesday, February 3, is Election Day — i.e. Deadline Day to send in those ballots.

What an election! Six candidates are running, some with clear partisan ties, although the office itself is nonpartisan.  For more information, and to hear Secretary Reed’s take, you can check out this Seattle Channel video.

Also, King County Elections has a slew of info, including Voters’ Guide write-ups.

A footnote: King County officials say this election marks the beginning of all vote-by-mail. If that indeed holds, then Pierce County will be the last to offer poll site voting as an option. About 9 out of 10 voters in Washington voted by mail last November.