By Heather Jobe, Klickitat County Auditor, and Brandie Sullivan, Elections Administrator 

With election integrity and voter confidence about vote-by-mail systems under intense national scrutiny, county auditors and elections administrators across Washington have been urging voters—particularly those in rural areas—to mark and return their ballots early. 

That’s been the scenario, for one, this election season in 1,900-square-mile Klickitat County, which shares a border with Oregon in south central Washington.  

Home to slightly more than 24,000 people—and some 16,434 registered voters-- Klickitat County boasts three wild, scenic rivers—the Klickitat, White Salmon and Columbia. Its western section is heavily forested and boasts orchards and fruit-packing enterprises while the rolling prairies of its central and eastern regions feature wineries and extensive vegetable farming. 

Officials in the county seat of Goldendale, a 4 ½-hour drive from Spokane and two hours from Portland, say the time it takes for a ballot deposited in a U.S Postal Service box in Goldendale to make its way back to the Elections Office from a distant sorting center for processing and to be counted can be delayed considerably these days. 

Among the reasons are various changes in postal service practices, including shifting postmarking processes and reductions in the frequency of mail being trucked to sorting centers.  

“The date on a machine-applied postmark may reflect the date on which the mail piece was first accepted by the Postal Service, but that is not definitively the case,” according to a USPS statement in a recent Federal Register notice. 

Both are important factors because mailed ballots must be post marked by Election Day, Nov. 4 this season, and received in the Elections Office by Nov. 24, the day before certification. 

As an example, Goldendale used to have two truck pickups every day from Portland where mail might be sent for sorting. Now there is only one. 

Consequently, a ballot dropped in a mailbox in Goldendale after 4 p.m. on one day, now won’t necessarily arrive in Portland for sorting until after 4 p.m. the next day, and then it might not get postmarked until even the following day. 

And other mail posted in Goldendale might be transported even further to Spokane or Seattle, taking even longer.  It all depends on the postal code. 

To address these challenges, we’ve been doing proactive messaging to urge voters to get their ballots in early.  This season, doing so by mail meant posting them at least seven days before Election Day. 

To ensure a ballot receives a timely postmark, a voter may hand it directly to a postal clerk inside the local post office and request a hand-applied postmark at the counter.  Without that request, the ballot is not required to be postmarked until it reaches the processing plant. The allows for the possibility the ballot could be postmarked or received too late. 

A voter also may return a ballot in person at the Auditor’s Office or deposit it in one of the official permanently installed ballot drop boxes located throughout the state (yes, you can drop your ballot in ANY official drop box).  

By the way, drop boxes are opened 18 days prior to an election and remain open until 8 o’clock on election night 

When in doubt, always use a drop box.  A complete list of drop box locations is included in your voters’ pamphlet or at www.votewa.gov. 

Remember, every vote counts, but only if it is received and postmarked on time! 

—With Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington