Every year thousands of ballots are rejected in Washington State - You can verify your ballot isn't on this list and make sure your vote counts

***This article has been updated since it was first published to also provide a direct link to the Secretary of State’s official website where you can verify your ballot status***

Washington State voters have been voting exclusively by mail since 2011, and mostly by mail for many years before that.  While there is substantial national attention on the problems with mail in voting (see here, here, and here for a few examples), it is still important for the many who have already filled out and delivered their ballots to verify their ballot (or if you live in King County – “ballots” plural) have been counted and received.

There are many reasons for the county auditor to reject ballots – the voter is dead, the signature doesn’t match, etc (Screen capture)

Every year, hundreds of thousands of mail in ballots are rejected in Washington State.  The reasons they are rejected vary and are legitimate, in most cases (a dead person voted, voter failed to sign, the signature does not match, maybe you voted for Trump (ok, no bureaucrat openly admits this as a legit reason) the ballot showed up late, etc)

How do you know if your vote counted?  Here is an easy place to check:

If you want to go to the official site, go here . Please note, this is the official secretary of state website, so this information should be the most current accurate. When I originally wrote this article only posted another website, which is not official, and which appears to be aggregating the “match back” reports issued by the 39 counties in Washington State, and they are posting the information about problematic ballots. This site is run by a 3rd party (with unknown provenance), and is not official, but the data appears to be correct as best I can tell right now. The advantage of this site appears to be the ability to sort, search and look up whether other ballots have been received or not, or if they have “a problem.” Officially, they are not rejected until the canvassing board says they are rejected, but they are unlikely to be counted unless the local auditors can verify they have been “fixed.” If you want to know a bit more about this controversy, see this article linked here.

You can go to this website, which is unofficial, but handy, and see if they have received your ballot and or your family, friends and neighbors. You can also see if your ballot has been rejected (and why).  If you failed to sign the ballot or there is a problem with your signature, you have time to go in and get it resolved and fixed.  In theory the local auditor’s offices will contact you about this, but if they forget or can’t do it for some mysterious reason, you might want to verify on the official state site again, and then contact your local auditor’s office to fix the problem. If you are a legitimate voter, a US citizen, only voted once, and are not voting in multiple states simultaneously – then you should visit your local auditor’s office (all masked up, of course) and fix the reported problem with your ballot. 

Share this link with others.  It is helpful and a useful tool.

Additionally, we have several days before the election “closes” (Tuesday, November 3, at 8pm for those who are living under a rock – and if you put it in your mailbox that late, it won’t count because the USPS carrier won’t get it until the next day – if you MUST put it in the mail – do it days earlier to be semi-safe) and the endless counting (and re-counting) begins.  Unlike most states, Washington will be accepting a flood and eventually a trickle of late mailed ballots arriving courtesy of our glorious US Postal Service and sometimes the trunk of King County auditor’s vehicles or other places (see here, here, and here).  If you want less drama related to your ballot, here are some steps you can take in the meantime. Even if you are so sure your choice will prevail regardless, get your vote in now to give them a margin bigger than the trunk of a King County election’s worker trunk space:

  1.  Get your ballot delivered early – do not wait until the last minute when it is easier to “lose” your ballot en route to the auditor’s office.
  2. Hand deliver your ballot directly to the auditor’s office, or at least to an official drop box now.  This is better than mailing it, as I have discussed before (see here, and here)
  3. Don’t be the goof (and this was me one time years ago, so I’ll never forget) who fills out your ballot, leaves it on the front seat of the car, buries it with other stuff, and then discovers it a month later – thinking you voted, but realizing you misplaced the ballot.  Get it in the system as quickly as you can

There is a lot of drama around voting this year.  Turn out in Washington State’s primary this last August was the highest it has been on a Presidential election cycle since the 1960s.  Vote now and help remind everyone you know to vote.  Don’t wait until it is too late. 

The future will belong to those who show up.

OUR CONSTITUTION BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE “WE THE PEOPLE.”  IT WAS THE FOUNDERS’ INTENT THAT GOVERNMENT BE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, TO SERVE THE PEOPLE.  IT WASN’T THEIR INTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT.  IT WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH FAILED TO SERVE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE “ALTERED OR ABOLISHED.”  UNTIL WE RETURN TO THE FOUNDER’S INTENT, WE REMAIN WE THE GOVERNED…

Background articles and documents:

Go here to the official Secretary of State website to verify your ballot status

Go here to the unofficial site to check on the status of your ballot and other ballots in Washington State

How often do US Postal Workers interfere with vote by mail elections in Washington State?

Vote by mail fails when postal workers are corrupt, look at Washington State

Washington State Voter’s Guide 2020 – primary election

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) – go here to find out who is funding political campaigns

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

9 COMMENTS

  3. Glen: I can’t find anything at the Auditors Office website regarding dropping off ballots. They claim all local offices are closed due to the virus. Any ideas or suggestions? I don’t want to trek to my local office and find out I can’t submit my vote.

    • What county are you in? Every auditor’s office in the state has a drop box right next to their office (or where they count the votes). I didn’t know any didn’t have that option. When they can only check the box and carry the ballots into the building, that seems like the least handling you can get for your ballot – plus the chain of custody is less likely to be disruptive… nothing is perfect, but that seems like the best option

  4. “…leaves it on the front seat of the car, buries it with other stuff, and then discovers it a month later – thinking you voted, but realizing you misplaced the ballot.”

    Haha! You and me both!

Comments are closed.