Voters in recent local election had ballots sent back by mistake. Here’s what happened

A mail-forwarding error caused some ballots to be returned to voters in this month’s Pierce Conservation District Board of Supervisors election.

The district sent 1,237 ballots this year. District officials said they had 28 voters to date contact them to say their ballots were returned to sender. They won’t know until March 28 how many ballots have been submitted when they get that information from the third-party they contract with to collect them.

District officials realized March 7 that some ballots that were filled out and mailed were returned to sender. That was due to a problem with the mail-forwarding service, apparently caused by a lapse in payment, of the third-party vendor the district uses to collect and count the ballots.

The district works to conserve natural resources across parts of the county. For example, it helps local farmers with soil conservation and water quality, among other things.

The chair of the district issued an emergency proclamation the next day that extended the deadlines to postmark ballots and for ballots to be received.

The new deadline to postmark a ballot is March 22, and ballots can’t be received later than March 27. Before the extension, ballots had to be postmarked by March 15 and received by March 22.

“We followed all our policies and procedures around our elections process,” Pierce Conservation District executive director Dana Coggon told The News Tribune on Thursday.

The Washington State Conservation Commission certifies the results, but a third-party vendor, Hauser, Jones & Sas, verifies everyone’s eligibility, sends out the ballots, collects and counts them each year.

Coggon told The News Tribune that, from her understanding, Hauser, Jones & Sas has had an address for years where they paid to have everything forwarded, “and they just had a lapse in payment for that forwarding service.”

Now that’s been fixed and the address is active.

That means voters whose ballots were returned can add a new stamp, take off the yellow “return to sender” label, and drop it in the mail. They need to be careful not to open the envelope, though, which would invalidate the ballot.

“It needs to be clear that there wasn’t any tampering with it,” Coggon said.

Voters can also drop their ballots into the lockbox at 308 West Stewart Ave. in Puyallup, as long as it’s before 3 p.m. March 22.

Conservation District ballots aren’t automatically sent to eligible voters. They need to request them.

The district had 1,250 ballots requested for the 2022 election, with 460 cast. The deadline to request a 2023 ballot has passed.

“The conservation district elections are different,” Coggon said. “We have our own rules and regulations around our elections, and there’s a full process for that,” outlined by the Washington State Conservation Commission.

What does the Pierce Conservation District do and who funds it?

The Conservation District brings in about $2 million annually from rates and charges, Coggon said. The average homeowner in Pierce County sees a $10 charge on their property tax bill that goes to the district, she said.

The district’s annual budget is roughly $3.5 million because it pursues grants and other opportunities, she said. It has 32 employees, including AmeriCorps positions. It also has five Washington Conservation Corps workers based in the office, who do work for the district and other organizations.

“Created in 1949 as part of a national response to the ecological disaster of the 1930s known as the Dust Bowl, we have worked for over 65-years to help local farmers, cities, and citizens address numerous sustainability challenges,” the district’s website says.

Coggon said a simple way to think of their work is: “farms, fish and friends.”

The district started by conserving farmland. It also does water quality work, helps get affordable native plants, helps residents create habitats in their yards and works with community gardens, among other things.

Registered voters who live in the district — unincorporated Pierce County, Bonney Lake, Buckley, DuPont, Edgewood, Fircrest, Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Milton, Orting, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Sumner, Tacoma and University Place — can request ballots for district elections.

Coggon said the district posts about upcoming elections on social media, includes it in their newsletter, and works with the Pierce County Auditor’s Office to get the word out.

Who is running?

There are five members on the Pierce Conservation District’s Board of Supervisors. The Washington State Conservation Commission appoints two and voters elect three.

Board supervisors “serve without compensation and set policy for the Conservation District,” the website says.

This year’s election is to replace Cynthia Haverkamp, a Steilacoom resident whose term expires in May.

There are three candidates for the three-year term: Julie Ammann, Tiana Cooper and Keith Swank.

Ammann’s biography says she lives in Gig Harbor and “is committed to conservation, clean water, thriving sustainable farms and ecosystems, and striving for a healthy community today and tomorrow.”

Cooper’s says she works in property management, has been on other boards, and “is passionate about the environment, animal welfare, equine rescue and rehabilitation, and gardening.”

Swank’s biography lists his experience as a U.S. Army veteran and his 32 years as a police commander.

“I grew up on an organic farm. We were organic before organic was cool,” it says. “I am an avid outdoorsman, and I make sure to take care of all our resources.”