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October 25th, 2006

SKAGIT COUNTY AUDITOR TO ISSUE SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION TO VOTERS

MOUNT VERNON, WA. – Skagit County Auditor, Norma Brummett, announced today that her office will be mailing supplemental information about the four statewide ballot measures to all registered Skagit County voters. Based on a call she received yesterday from a local voter, Mrs. Brummett confirmed that the ballots, which were mailed out on October 18th, did not include concise descriptions of the ballot measures. “I wish to make it clear that the ballots do contain two of the three required components. Under state law, however, each ballot title must also include a concise description of the measure's essential contents. That is the component that failed to make it onto the ballots,” Brummett explained.

“The good news is that we are early enough in the election process to correct the deficiency,” Brummett added. The full titles to the measures, as well as their full text appear in the published state Voters’ Pamphlet, and at www.secstate.wa.gov, the Secretary of State’s website. In addition, the Skagit County Auditor’s website will have a link to the full titles and full text, as well.
“But to make absolutely sure that every voter in Skagit County is fully informed, our office is immediately mailing supplemental information to all registered voters. Each voter will receive an explanatory letter from my office, together with a sheet that contains the full ballot titles for the state-wide measures,” Brummett continued. Once they get the supplemental information, any voter who has already voted, but wants to change their votes may do so by requesting a substitute ballot by October 31, 2006. In the meantime, no ballots will be processed before that deadline.

In addressing the problem Brummett, and Secretary of State, Sam Reed, consulted with their legal counsel at the prosecutor's office and the attorney general's office, respectively. “The original draft of the ballots contained all the required language. We are still trying to determine how the missing component got left off of the final ballots. We are doing everything we can to correct the problem,” said Brummett. None of the local ballot measures were similarly affected.