Pierce County contracts with local business to manufacture ballot drop boxes | Events

Pierce County is taking advantage of its wealth of manufacturing talent by teaming up with a Puyallup company to build and install new ballot boxes

The county Auditor’s Office will unveil one of the new ballot boxes Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the main entrance to the Annex, located at 2401 South 35 Street in Tacoma

The boxes are manufactured by Laserfab, a local laser cutting, fabrication, and welding company.

In the past, drop boxes were fabricated by an Oregon company and shipped to Tacoma, but Auditor Julie Anderson insisted on bringing the business back home.

“With the manufacturing talent in Pierce County, I knew we could find a high-quality company to design and manufacture these unique boxes,” Anderson said.

The Auditor’s office secured federal funding through a grant intended to increase accessibility for voters with disabilities, and the boxes were approved by the Pierce County Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee. The boxes will provide 24-hour walk-up and drive-up access and allow voters to drop off ballots – postage free – as soon as they receive them.

“These boxes increase accessibility for Pierce County voters. And, we keep the business right here in our backyard,” Anderson said. “Laserfab has designed boxes that will meet the demand of the 2012 presidential election,” she added.

The Auditor’s Office plans to purchase 15 additional boxes with the grant funds. Each box costs approximately $1,000 and is extremely popular with voters.

"The introduction of our increased-security ballot box represents a commitment to ensure both integrity and a cost savings to the voting process,” said Larry Olson, vice president of Operations at Laserfab. “Pierce County worked hand-in-hand with Laserfab to meet these challenges valued by the local community. We at Laserfab appreciate Pierce County's efforts to engage local businesses in its projects,” commented Keith White, Laserfab sales manager.