Five reasons why the Whatcom ballot you’ll get this week is secure
Despite unproven claims of widespread voter fraud, and former President Trump’s lies about a stolen election, security measures aim to prevent fraud and interference in every step of Washington’s all-mail voting process — from registration and the return of completed ballots, to the verification and tabulation process and reporting of results.
“There are a lot of checks and balances,” Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick told The Bellingham Herald for a 2020 report on election security measures.
Ballots for the Nov. 8 general election go in the mail on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
“The voter registration database is updated daily to ensure we have the most current information for registered voters and ballots get to the right place,” Bradrick told The Herald in an email.
Voters who don’t receive a ballot can call the Auditor’s Office at 360-778-5102 or go online to votewa.org and request a ballot.
1. When Washington state residents register to vote, they are asked for a Washington driver’s license number or other valid identification such as the last four digits of a Social Security number, which is verified. Their signature is recorded and election workers compare it against the signature on their ballot envelope before the vote is counted. If they register to vote online, their driver’s license signature is electronically captured to compare to the ballot envelope signature. All ballot envelopes must be signed, and the signatures on file must match the signature on the envelope.
2. Ballots can be mailed or placed in an official ballot drop box. Ballot drop boxes are built from heavy-duty steel and are locked and secured using numbered seals and logs. Ballots deposited in a ballot drop box are collected, secured and delivered to the County Courthouse by two election employees.
3. Ballots are handled in the Auditor’s Office by a minimum of two election employees.
4. After signatures are verified and accepted, the ballots themselves are separated from their envelopes and counted. This process is monitored by election observers from both major political parties and others. All processes in the election center can be viewed on webcams available on the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office Election Division website.
5. Ballot counts are tabulated on a computer system that’s not linked to the internet. When ballot totals are complete, they are loaded onto a new flash drive and then uploaded to the state Secretary of State’s Office, where their receipt and vote totals are verified before ballot totals are published online.
