Thurston County’s elections complex in Tumwater is finally complete.
Last week, construction completed on the remodel and expansion of Thurston County’s ballot processing center, and the county received occupancy shortly after.
The $8.2 million project broke ground in January and comes off the back of the county opening a new voter services center across the complex in the summer of 2024.
The Chronicle took a tour of the new ballot processing center on Thursday with Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall, who said the 15,600-square-foot warehouse building provides more space, security and efficiency in the county’s elections process. It is also roughly double the size of the facility prior to the remodel, elections staff said.
The remodel and expansion was funded by the Public Safety Sales tax, which primarily supports law enforcement but also includes a designation for election security infrastructure, as well as by grants.
Thurston County has occupied the facility since 1985, but it has seen consistent growth over the course of four decades. This remodel in particular features a significantly expanded ballot inspection area for staff to process ballots. Previously, Hall and staff said the space was too crammed and there wasn’t much elbow room for staff sitting at the table together to properly function. Tabulation, signature verification, ballot inspection, and more processes were all squeezed into one tight room, but the expansion allowed them to spread out in a larger space.
Another addition is an observer corridor, where tourists of the ballot processing center can watch the entire process occur from behind windows that follow each room. Previously, observers would stand in the rooms where staff and machines worked, but movement was limited due to tight space. Reader boards and posters detail the different steps of the process as observers move through the corridor. Cellphones are not allowed in the observer corridor when ballot processing is underway.
“I think transparency in elections is really critical. So many people have no idea what happens with their ballot afterward,” Hall said. “And they have these pictures in their minds, especially with the misinformation and disinformation that’s out there today. Anybody could come in here, and these reader boards tell you exactly what is happening and how it’s happening in each room. We have those at every station.”
Hall said the county’s architects worked alongside the Department of Homeland Security during the design process of the facility, and the department recommended many of the security features.
One notable change since the facility’s inception in 1985 is the use of high-speed, automated mail-sorting machines, which have arrived over the past couple of years. The machines check in ballots by reading the barcodes on the envelopes, which contain voter ID numbers and precinct numbers, and then take photographs of the signatures before the ballots are sent to the signature verification area.
Election security is one of the auditor’s office’s priorities. The ballot processing facility includes numerous features to ensure the process operates safely and securely, some new and some maintained from before the expansion. For example, when ballots have arrived but are not actively being processed, they are stored in what’s called “the cage,” a tall, metallic cage with boxes full of ballots waiting for signature verification or other steps.
Additionally, each office and room has multiple steps for entry, including staff badges for every exterior door. Cameras also decorate every room where ballot processing takes place, as staff can look for any potential mishaps, if necessary. Ballot processing is streamed on YouTube by Thurston County.
Thurston County was one of several counties in Washington state in 2023 to receive envelopes containing fentanyl. Hall said she intercepted the letter before it could arrive at the ballot processing center the day after the general election. As a result, the county installed a mail processing room to open all of the mail that comes into the facility. This move was done before the full remodel of the facility.
The mail processing room, called a negative pressure room, has a separate HVAC system where any air flow in the room goes directly outside. Therefore, if the incident two years ago were to happen again, staff would not have to evacuate and shut down the entire facility.
Hall believes the upgraded facility not only fits the county’s needs today but gives room for further growth in the future.
“I really believe that this is going to be adequate for the county elections for a number of years to come,” she said. “This is a really great model for the state. There are other facilities that have been recently remodeled and expanded. What sets this apart is the level of security we have with the reinforced doors and windows and the observer corridor. I think this really allows voters to see every single part of the process up close.”
