King County’s election this week marked the debut of all vote-by-mail in the state’s largest county.  Newly elected County Elections Director Sherril Huff reports Friday that all indications are that the switch has been smooth and successful.

The light turnout — 22 percent as of Friday morning — made the transition a little easier. The county still awaits federal certification of new rapid tabulation equipment that King County already has acquired. The next spring election will be on March 10.

Secretary of State Sam Reed and state Elections Director Nick Handy congratulated Huff and her crew for the smooth transition, and noted that many voters appreciate the convenience of vote-by-mail and the almost three weeks they have the ballots in their homes. Vote-by-mail boosts turnout and saves the expense of running polling places, including staffing, and the environmental cost of people driving to the polls. 

With King’s switch, now all counties except for Pierce have ended poll-site voting. Oregon has had all vote-by-mail for a number of years.