“Washington state post offices have done this before. Whereas other states are facing a sudden and dramatic increase in the number of ballots handled via mail, Washington has been a vote-by-mail–only state since 2011. Dalton considers Washington’s post offices to be in a better position than many states to deliver election mail on time. The elections office works in very close collaboration with the post office. This year, ballots were sent out one week early, giving voters more time to vote and easing concerns about a potential slow down at the post office.
From there ballots are mailed out to the voters. Once approved, the printer prints the official ballots and envelopes and sends them to the county elections office. This means multiple versions of the ballot are needed in every election.īefore the election, the printer sends proofs of each version of the ballot to the county elections office, where they are tested in the tabulation machines to make sure they will be read properly. Other voters in different areas have different ballots than yours with the names of the candidates for the positions that represent their area. Here’s what I mean by that.Įlected officials represent people who live in specific geographic districts, so the names that appear on your ballot are specific to the area in the county where you live. One size does not fit all when it comes to ballots. More than 6 weeks before Election Day, ballots are designed and sent to a printer.