By Kendall Watson and Carrie Wood

Kirkland Reporter

Thousands of Kirklanders braved sporadic rain showers, a minor oil-spill and registration mix-ups to take part in voting at their local polls a final time on Election Day.

A dozen polling places across the city helped voters cast paper or electronic ballots Nov. 4 before the transition to an all mail-in ballot is made. Over 20,000 local residents have already done so, receiving their ballots weeks ago. Anecdotal reports from several precincts, however, indicate between 15 to 20 percent of voters were forced to use provisional ballots. The ballots – subjected to additional verification procedures – could slow down the vote count and delay the results in several close races, such as for State Treasurer or Superintendent of Public Schools.

After a brief morning rush, voters steadily arrived at City Hall’s polling place with little or no wait. One of those new voters arriving to vote was 18-year-old Brittany Brickzin. A student at Bellevue Community College, she was shocked to learn that this would be the last time officials planned to hold voting at polling places in King County.

“This is my first experience,” she said. “I got to at least do it once, then get a (‘I voted’) sticker. That’s so sad it’s the last time.”

Brickzin cast her vote for Obama and Gregoire after poll workers looked up her name and handed her a ballot. But according to poll inspector Jean Peterson, a number of voters were not on the Secretary of State-approved voter rolls and were given provisional ballots. The verification process for those ballots could take up to two weeks. In charge of voting for seven neighborhood precints, Peterson said as of 3 p.m., nearly 100 provisional ballots were used – over 15 percent of all ballots cast.

“They’re not in the poll book for some reason,” she said.

According to polling judge Nancy Pope, some of those reasons include trying to vote at the wrong location, registering for an absentee ballot or not voting in the last four years. She thought the reason for some of the confusion was due to the popularity of the presidental election.

“People who don’t normally vote, vote,” she said.

Inclement weather also slowed down traffic during the morning and evening rush-hours, delaying residents trying to get to work or hurry home with time for casting a ballot between 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. During the afternoon, a squall of hail and rain had most of downtown Kirkland looking for their umbrellas.

Meanwhile in Houghton, a Metro bus gushed 8 gallons of fuel onto Northeast 68th Street and caused a couple road closures, tying-up traffic there. During the closure of 68th and State streets, city officials urged voters to return to the polls in the early evening.

Rick Freedman, living a few blocks away, walked in a hurry toward Lakeview Elementary School with mail-in ballot in hand around 4 p.m.

“I was going to drive down, but the police wouldn’t let me turn,” he said, noting that he parked at the Houghton Plaza. “So I’m getting a little rain while I exercise my right to vote.”

Once inside, Freedman looked around, adding, “You see all the reports and this looks very civilized.”

Charles Baillargeon, poll inspector of the Lakeview site that serves eight precincts, said voter turnout has been steady.

“Fortunately, (the oil spill) came at the low post, lunchtime period.”

He mentioned from 7-8 a.m. this morning, there were 100 ballots cast. By that evening, there were nearly 600 votes cast — and 200 provisional ballots issued.

As polls closed at 8 p.m., King County Elections official Megan Coppersmith compared the number of provisional ballots issued for the election to the number in 2004. She said voters shouldn’t worry that their vote wouldn’t be counted, noting that 10 percent of the county’s 334,246 votes cast at polling places in 2004 were by provisional ballot. Of those, less than 5,000 were left uncounted.

“It’s just an extra step we take (with these ballots) to confirm the identity of that voter,” she said.