Wash. Ballots With Late Postmarks Won't Be Counted
OLYMPIA, Wash. – New polls show Washington’s open race for governor remains close. Already hundreds of thousands of Washington voters have returned their ballots. Many more will do so in the coming days. But county auditors have a warning to voters who wait until the last minute.
In Oregon you have to have your ballot in by 8pm on Election night. But in Washington you just have to have your ballot postmarked. That means for days after the election ballots keep on rolling in and they get counted -– unless the postmark is past the due date.
That happens more often you might think.
“It’s thousands of ballots in this presidential election we will not even be able to open because they arrive too late," says Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson. "Kills us.”
Anderson says, even worse, sometimes the postmark is smudged and unreadable.
Anderson’s advice to voters who wait until the last day to vote: drop your ballot in an official drop box by 8pm to make sure it arrives on time -– and is counted.
On the Web:
Washington elections information
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network
Washington voters can return their ballots via an official drop box by 8pm on election day. Photo by eagle.dawg via Flickr hide caption