One-quarter of Whatcom voters’ ballots are in. If yours was rejected, it can be fixed
About one-quarter of registered voters in Whatcom County have returned their ballots, less than a week before the state’s March 10 presidential primary.
It’s likely some of those ballots won’t count because voters failed to choose a political party.
Washington voters don’t register their party affiliation, because the state uses a “top two” selection process for state, county and local primaries.
But presidential primaries are different and voters must choose and sign a party declaration to make their ballot count, said Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick.
Bradick wrote in an email that voters who don’t choose a party are notified by mail and can correct the error.
“Because the voter has a chance to ‘cure’ their ballot by picking a party (we send a letter), we won’t know until right before certification how many will remain challenged for that,” Bradrick wrote. “We also have challenged ballots for picking both parties, and we have ballots where the voter selected one party but voted the other party. Those will go to Canvassing Board along with the no-party/two-party challenges.”
As of Thursday, March 5, the website votewashinton.info showed 1,658 Whatcom County ballots rejected for various reasons, from no party listing to signature on ballot didn’t match the one on file.
Voters can check the status of their ballots online.
According to the Auditor’s website:
▪ 37,259 votes had been received Tuesday out of 148,664 registered Whatcom County voters, Bradrick said.
▪ Voter participation is public record and your political party choice is available for public inspection for 60 days.
▪ Your candidate choice is secret.
▪ You do not register separately or by party for this election.
▪ The major political parties require voters to make a party declaration at the time of voting.
▪ You must choose and sign a political party declaration on the return ballot envelope.
▪ You vote for one candidate on the ballot of the same political party as your signed declaration.
▪ If you do not vote in the presidential primary, you will still receive a ballot to vote in the Nov. 3 General Election.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
