Turnout lagging in Whatcom County as election deadline looms
A little more than one-third of registered Whatcom County voters had returned their ballots, according to data from the Washington Secretary of State’s Office on Monday morning, Nov. 7.
That likely doesn’t include ballots that were mailed or placed in official drop boxes over the weekend in counties across Washington state, where all voting is by mail.
Ballots are due by a symbolic poll-closing time of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the midterm elections.
Ballots must be postmarked — not simply mailed — by 8 p.m. Tuesday, so voters are advised to use a drop box this close to the deadline.
Anyone can register and vote until 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Auditor’s Office, 311 Grand Ave.
Ballots that arrive in the mail on Wednesday and later will be accepted if they have a postmark before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Drop boxes are locked at 8 p.m. Tuesday and the ballots inside will be counted.
At stake in Whatcom County are two ballot measures and seats in Congress and the state Legislature, along with local judges and other local offices.
Initial results should be available by 8:30 Tuesday, and results of the second round of counting will be posted by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the Auditor’s and the Secretary of State’s websites.
Whatcom County has 156,997 active registered voters, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, which conducts elections.
Of the 61,543 ballots that have been returned in Whatcom County, 60,574 have been accepted.
Voters whose ballots were rejected will be contacted and given a chance to fix or “cure” the issue, such as a missing signature or one that doesn’t match the signature that’s on file.
Voters can check the status of their ballots at the website VoteWA.gov.
Currently, the Auditor’s Office cannot receive long-distance calls at its number, 360-778-5102.
Those with questions who aren’t using a local number can email Whatcom County elections officials at elections@co.whatcom.wa.us.
