Voters may get a chance to decide whether Spokane County needs more than three commissioners to run local government, the number it’s had since Washington became a U.S. territory in 1854. Karen Kearney, a civic activist and unsuccessful Spokane City Council candidate, said she soon will ask county commissioners to schedule a vote on increasing the size of the board to five members.

The Spokane County assessor’s and treasurer’s offices have new chief deputies as well as new elected department heads. Treasurer Rob Chase planned to retain Chief Deputy Treasurer Bob Wrigley, but was forced to hire a new deputy last month when county commissioners selected Wrigley for a new countywide budget director position.

Washington’s election system has many virtues, but speed isn’t one of them. Only 40.6 percent of last month’s Spokane County general election ballots were counted on election night.

Washington has killer election websites when they work. “There is no state in the country that has this sophisticated an election-night reporting system,” state Elections Director Nick Handy said.

Washington has killer election websites when they work. “There is no state in the country that has this sophisticated an election-night reporting system,” state Elections Director Nick Handy said.

In his campaign for Spokane County auditor, Republican Leonard Christian has been loudly critical of incumbent Democrat Vicky Dalton’s oversight of elections. That’s only one of the auditor’s four major responsibility areas, but Christian says he emphasizes it because so many voters tell him they’re concerned about the security of their ballots. And he warns that there is tremendous potential for fraud in that arena.

A security breach in the Spokane County election office was precipitated by delivery of thousands of ballot envelopes with Auditor Vicky Dalton’s name on them. Republicans have complained that Dalton, a Democrat, is electioneering when she places her name on mail-in ballot envelopes.

Democratic Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton says she’ll implement some good ideas from her Republican critics. Dalton made the announcement Friday at a meeting of the county Canvassing Board, which is established by state law to review and certify elections.

Vicky Dalton, seeking a fourth four-year term as auditor, is challenged by Realtor Leonard Christian.

An assessor’s office employee’s complaint that a co-worker took unreported leave was unfounded, according to a report The Spokesman-Review obtained Tuesday. The report, released under a public disclosure request, documents an investigation by a committee of Spokane County officials from outside the assessor’s office.

Local taxpayers shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Aug. 17 primary to help political parties elect their precinct committee officers. The primary would have cost taxpayers in Spokane County only $42,314 if state law didn’t give political parties a free ride.

Republican Party leaders expressed concerns this week about the security of ballots mailed during the August primary to the Spokane County elections office. County party Chairwoman Cindy Zapotocky wrote county Auditor Vicky Dalton that a Republican observer saw uncovered trays of ballots being picked up at the downtown post office by a courier service contracted with the county. Zapotocky alleges that the courier made other stops with the ballots in his truck before dropping off the ballots at the elections office.

A final vote count in last month’s primary election, to be certified today, didn’t turn around any races or trigger an automatic recount. Republican county commissioner candidate Al French retained a narrow lead Tuesday over Republican Jeff Holy and will advance to the Nov. 2 general election. French will face incumbent Democrat Bonnie Mager.

Today is the last day to apply for a passport at the Spokane County Auditor’s Office.

Spokane County residents seeking help paying heating bills should encounter fewer hassles and less frustration this winter, according to SNAP, the agency that administers that service.

Passports will not be available through the Spokane County auditor’s office after Aug. 31. Auditor Vicky Dalton said it is no longer cost-effective for her licensing office to process the applications.