Clogged Whatcom County ballot box fixed as primary voting deadline nears
A clogged chute in a ballot drop box might have deterred some would-be voters, but Whatcom County elections officials said they fixed the situation quickly Monday night, the day before ballots are due in today’s Washington state primary election.
Auditor Stacy Henthorn told The Bellingham Herald that elections officials learned that voters couldn’t place their ballots in the official drop box south of the County Courthouse about 6 p.m. Monday.
“A police officer was at the ballot drop box directing voters to use the second open slot designated for walk-ups. As soon as we were notified, a team of two election staff, Amy Grasher and Morgan Kalkwarf, arrived at the courthouse ballot box to investigate the situation. They found the ballot box was not full, however the chute where voters drop their ballots was clogged. The team unclogged the chute and we are working on a solution so this doesn’t occur again,” Henthorn said in an email.
Henthorn said that voters can check the status of their ballot at votewa.gov.
Ballots are due at 8 p.m. in Washington’s all-mail primary election, where the two candidates with the most votes advance to the Nov. 5 general election.
To be valid, ballots must be postmarked — not simply mailed — by 8 tonight. Elections officials suggest using one of the 21 official ballot drop boxes scattered across Whatcom County instead of the U.S. mail this close to the symbolic poll-closing time.
According to data from the state Secretary of State’s Office, 19% of Whatcom County’s 162, 430 voters had returned their ballots through Monday.
Only two Whatcom County races have attracted more than two candidates, the one for 2nd District U.S House, and for the 42nd District House Position 1.
This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 12:15 PM.
