The Grays Harbor County Commissioners passed a resolution that will send a message to the state about unfunded mandates.

At their Monday meeting the Commissioners passed a resolution and letter to Washington State regarding the ballot box install mandate they have received.

Commissioner Randy Ross spoke during the meeting about the issue.

Commissioner Vickie Raines said she isn’t opposed to having more ballot boxes but this isn’t the only unfunded mandate they are concerned about.

The letter to the state says the legislature adopted a bill in 2017 which mandates each county to significantly increase the number of ballot boxes in its jurisdiction but, they failed to provide any funding to purchase and install the additional ballot boxes or to operate them.

According to the letter “Grays Harbor County has 18 Census Designated Locations, each of which requires that a ballot box be purchased, installed, and maintained at that site. The majority of these 18 ballot boxes are destined to be sited in rural areas of Grays Harbor County, which will increase the cost of maintenance and operations, including mileage for employees to travel between the county seat and each ballot box.”

The commissioners say the estimated cost to install the rest of the mandated boxes is over $60,000.

They say the total amount expended to date by the county in 2017 and 2018 for the installation of two ballot boxes and operations for one election is $9,427.91 and they are demanding reimbursement for that amount.

The letter to the state that includes more cost estimates can be found at the link below.

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