SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane County voters faced long lines at the polls on election day, with some casting their ballots as late as 10:20 p.m., despite polls officially closing at 8 p.m.
The CenterPlace Regional Event Center experienced a consistent two-and-a-half-hour delay due to the long lines. Many voters expressed frustration and some even left without voting. Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton confirmed that the lines were longer than those during the 2020 presidential election.
During that election, the Spokane Arena was used as a voting location due to COVID-19 restrictions on live events. This year, only the Elections Office, CenterPlace, and the Eastern Washington University Catalyst Building were open, while processing about 1,200 new registrations over the final two days.
Dalton noted that many first-time voters in Washington, who are accustomed to other states’ voting systems, turned out on election day rather than mailing in their ballot. Despite the long lines, Dalton expects final voter turnout to be anywhere from 75% to 77%, which was lower than Dalton anticipated. In contrast, Spokane County had nearly 82% turnout in 2020 and set a record at 86% in 2008.
Dalton stated, “Having a lot of voter service centers is not really supportable,” emphasizing the need for large spaces and competent staff, which are limited resources.
As of Wednesday morning, about 1,600 ballots have been challenged due to issues such as mismatched signatures or unsigned ballots. Dalton said that voters with challenged ballots should have been contacted.
“We do the initial contact as soon as we do challenge the signature, and then in the last three days we try to do another contact by text, phone or email,” Dalton said.
The deadline for resolving challenged ballots is Nov. 25, with results certification on Nov. 26. Dalton advised voters, “You got a letter, the letter gives you instructions, follow the instructions.”
For more information on Spokane County voting and election results, visit the Spokane County Elections website.
