SPOKANE, Wash. – With only two weeks remaining before one of the largest elections in Spokane’s history, voters are making critical decisions regarding new state and local policies, a U.S. representative and leadership in Olympia. That’s all in addition to casting their votes for who will lead the country for the next four years.
As of Monday night, 19% of registered voters in Spokane County have submitted their ballots, according to the Spokane County Elections Office.
Ballots were mailed out on Friday, Oct. 11. However, some voters have reported not receiving their ballots.
In Spokane County, the expectation is that voters will receive their ballots and voter guides by mail about a month before the election, assuming no change of address since the last voting period.
Vicky Dalton, Spokane County’s auditor with over 25 years of experience, explained the issue: “The U.S. Postal Service, no matter how good they are, there’s still going to be a few pieces of mail every day that get lost, get damaged, get chewed up by the machines.”
For those who do not receive their ballots, Dalton reassures, “If your ballot doesn’t arrive, don’t worry. Just call us, we’ll send you a replacement.”
There are other options for those facing this dilemma. Voters can visit the elections office in person or start and print an online ballot. Dalton noted, “We prefer that you call us first, it does take much longer to process a ballot printed from your own computer.”
Any ballot that may have been lost in the mail will be voided once a replacement ballot is issued. To ensure safety, voters can check online to confirm their ballot has not been returned fraudulently.
“If you go online and you see that the ballot has been mailed out to you and it shows that it’s been returned and received by us and you did not send it to us, you need to call us immediately,” Dalton stated.
Ballot tracking can be done using the voter’s name and birthdate through Washington’s online voter portal. The portal provides real-time updates on when the ballot was mailed out, received, and if it cleared all verifications.
Dalton added, “It’ll show if you’ve mailed your ballot, it’ll show if we received one from you, it’ll show if it made it through signature verification or if it’s been challenged, then it’ll show it’s been sent off for tabulation. We really want everyone to go online and check VoteWA.”
The risk of someone else successfully voting for a voter is very slim. Dalton explained, “The signature that’s on the envelope is imaged in, the barcode then pulls up from the voter registration record. Humans then go through those signatures and make the comparison, and our humans go through training with Washington State Patrol.”
In cases where a voter’s signature is falsely flagged as fraudulent, Dalton shared, “It does happen. People break their arms, things happen where maybe they’ve had a stroke and they can’t sign like they used to, so everyone has a chance to go in and fix their signature.”
For anyone who needs assistance, the elections office is ready to help and provide guidance. Voters are encouraged to check their ballot status to ensure their vote counts in this pivotal election.
You can check your registration and ballot status now on VoteWA.gov.
