New Ballot Processing Center ready for election night in Thurston County

When the ballots come in for the Nov. 4 General Election in Thurston County, they will be processed at a state-of-the-art facility that was years in the making

The new Ballot Processing Center will make its election night debut on an evening likely to be filled with high drama given the number of political contests up for grabs in the region.

From the outside, the processing center doesn’t look much different from the other structures that dot the landscape at Mottman Industrial Park in Tumwater. 

But the inside of the processing center is something else with layers of security measures ranging from color-coated cabling and a private air-gapped network to a glass-encased ballot tabulation room that can be viewed from an observation corridor.

“I’m really pleased with this. There are a lot of security features that you don’t see. I think everybody is very comfortable here. I think people feel very safe here,” said Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall during a press tour of the $8.2 million facility on Thursday, Oct. 30.

She said the Department of Homeland Security weighed in on design and security features at the processing center, which include double-badge access to certain areas, reinforced doors and a stout cage to house ballots.

“It was a really great partnership,” said Hall of the Department of Homeland Security and Thurston County, as a catering crew was setting up inside the observation corridor before a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of a process that started in 2018.

The processing center is double the size of the previous center, which was blended into the mix given it sat on the same plot of land. The extra space was sorely needed.

“It was very compressed, very crowded. It was not adequate for the size of our operation,” said Hall, who noted there is plenty of room for growth at the processing center.

Visitors to the processing center are likely to take a shine to the observation corridor, which features reader boards that show viewers what is happening at each station, such as ballot inspection, ballot duplication and ballot tabulation.

“People can come in here and just watch, if they want,” said Hall of the observation room.

The original estimate for the processing center was approximately $10 million. Construction costs were covered by the Public Safety Sales Tax and grants, including money from the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.