The Citizens' Elections Oversight Committee (CEOC) is an advisory body established by the King County Council to promote transparency, accountability, and public confidence in local elections. The CEOC’s work strengthens public trust in King County elections by promoting best practices, transparency, and inclusivity.
The CEOC makes recommendations to the Council to improve the performance of King County Elections, and helps ensure that accountability and performance of the Department of Elections is provided in a transparent manner that is meaningful to the residents of King County conducting free, fair, and transparent elections.
The committee does that by observing and monitoring the election processes, reviewing legislation and reports affecting elections, recommending improvements to King County elections, and submitting an annual report to the county Council.
The CEOC also has two subcommittees: Best Practices and Election Monitoring.
The groups to be represented on the committee are established by the County Council. That list includes the League of Women Voters by name, as well as community groups representing diverse constituencies, including language communities, disability advocates, academic experts, and registered voters.
I’ve had the honor for the past three years to represent LWVSKC on the CEOC; I currently sit on the Best Practices Committee.
As anyone who is familiar with King County Elections and our Elections Director Julie Wise might anticipate, we enjoy a very collegial and cooperative relationship with the Elections Department.
The CEOC meets five times a year. The meetings are largely focused on providing members with information on specific issues in the election arena. The subcommittees meet monthly and hear from election staff and other experts. Some of the areas we have looked at in the past year include ranked choice voting, King County Elections communications strategy and methods, and the Voters pamphlet. We heard presentations from the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public (CIP) on the risks and impacts of mis-, dis-, and mal-information, along with a cybersecurity update from the Washington Secretary of State Office and someone from the Feds that reviewed Washington State's strengths and challenges concerning election security.
One of the most memorable presentations in 2024 was from an election security expert who worked for Homeland Security and was assigned exclusively to Washington State. He provided both thorough and reassuring information about the work the federal government was doing around election security. In 2025, we had a presentation from someone from that same department. The presenter, who at that time covered many states, was very open about the changes in Homeland Security’s approach to election security and outlined a number of services and programs that had been or were being eliminated under the new federal administration.
In addition to approving an annual report, most of the actual decision-making regards internal structures such as leadership, meeting schedule, and structure and responsibilities of the subcommittees.
One of the issues we will be looking at in 2026 is the barriers created by inadequate language translation and the confusion that complex or unclear language can cause for voters. We will explore best practices to enhance translation accuracy, accessibility, and inclusivity, including the consistent use of plain language principles to help all voters better understand election initiatives, information, and materials.
We will also explore public records requirements, the Election Director‘s legislative agenda, the transition to even-year elections for county offices, and the federal government’s actions related to elections and potential impact on King County.
As the only local body of its kind in the state, the CEOC provides an essential link between the public, the Department of Elections, and the King County Council. The Committee’s effectiveness is made possible through the strong partnership and shared commitment to transparency between Director Julie Wise and King County Elections.
Their responsiveness to the Committee’s requests for information, collaboration, and engagement exemplifies the Department’s dedication to accountability and public trust. To learn more, visit Citizens' Elections Oversight Committee - King County, Washington and feel free to reach out to me at kathysakahara@gmail.com.