Southwest Washington lawmakers weigh in on mail-in ballots, other state voting issues

As the 2026 midterm elections inch closer and closer, Washington state is embroiled in multiple lawsuits with the federal government over voter information and mail-in ballots while also bracing for a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could disqualify late mail-in ballots.

The Chronicle decided to reach out to its delegation of Republican lawmakers from the 19th and 20th Legislative Districts to get their thoughts on efforts largely led by President Donald Trump, who insists mail-in voting is rife with fraud.

The Chronicle heard back from five of the six Washington state lawmakers in recent weeks on the state of Washington's voting system, from election security to voter information to mail-in ballots.

State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, who is challenging Democrat incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez for Washington state's Third Congressional District seat, declined multiple requests to comment or interview for this story. Notably, he was endorsed by Trump earlier this week.

Responses from the lawmakers ranged in intensity and perspective concerning voting in Washington. One, a vocal critic of mail-in voting, is leading a state effort to implement voter identification, while another called for more ballot boxes and improved signature verification. All five said they would like to see voter data shared between the state and federal governments and were critical of state officials opposing federal requests for voter information.

"The response of primarily the Secretary of State, (Steve) Hobbs, but to some degree, the governor, (Bob) Ferguson, and the state AG, (Nick) Brown, is pure performative politics," state Rep. and state GOP Chair Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen said.

A federal role in voter registration

In an interview with The Chronicle, state Sen. Jeff Wilson referred to recent disputes between the state and federal governments over voter information as a "tiff." He added that he sees state concerns over personal information as over-stated, arguing that laws are already in place to protect voters' personal information.

Other lawmakers were similarly critical of the state's legal battles with the federal government. State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, in an emailed statement to The Chronicle, called the federal government's demands for voter information and development of federal voter lists a reasonable request to ensure voters are citizens.

"I think it would be more productive and effective for our state to spend its time working with the federal government to find solutions rather than suing them," Orcutt said. "Seems like more would get accomplished with a lot less cost."

The state of Washington has been locked in legal battles with the federal government for most of the last year. The federal government first requested Washington state's voter lists in September.

At the time, Hobbs stated in a news release that he would provide lists of names. But he declined to turn over other information included in the lists, such as driver's license numbers and the last digits of Social Security numbers. In his statement, Hobbs added that the exact reason the federal government wanted the information at the time was unclear.

"I take my duty to protect voters and the sensitive information they entrust to the state very seriously," Hobbs said. "While we will provide the (Department of Justice) with the voter registration data that state law already makes public, we will not compromise the privacy of Washington voters by turning over confidential information that both state and federal law prohibit us from disclosing."

In December, the Department of Justice filed suit against the state of Washington in an attempt to acquire the desired voter information. That suit just began to move forward last week after state officials were finally served, according to reporting from The Washington State Standard.

More recently, Trump signed an executive order to create a federal list of verified voters and ordered the United States Postal Service not to accept ballots from voters not on the list.

Shortly after the order, Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown joined a coalition of more than 20 other state attorneys general in suing the federal government over the executive order, which he called "unlawful."

In a news release, Brown stated that he believes the order to be an attempt to restrict mail-in voting and voter eligibility in the state of Washington under the guise of election integrity.

"Mail-in voting is safe and legal in Washington," Brown said. "We will do everything we can to defend it. And come November, despite the president's lawless threats, we'll once again use that power to protect our democracy."

Accepting late ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments on a case originating in Mississippi concerning systems that accept late arriving mail-in ballots that have been postmarked on or before election day. Washington and Mississippi are two of more than 10 states in the country that accept and count such ballots. In Washington, county auditor's offices accept late arriving mail-in ballots with a valid postmark up until election certification.

That usually means mailed ballots have weeks to wind their way through the postal system to a county auditor's office. According to the Washington Secretary of State calendar, this year the deadline for counties to certify and transmit general election results is Nov. 24 and election day is Nov. 3.

Local elections officials are hesitant to comment on how the supreme court case will impact ballots here in Lewis County, pointing out that they simply won't know until a decision is made. State elections officials appear skeptical of the decision, stating in a report from The Seattle Times that disqualifying the ballots would create an unnecessary barrier to voting for Washington residents and adding that in 2024 as many as 127,000 valid ballots were received after election day.

Wilson, who serves as the ranking minority member on the Washington state Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, said he's not concerned about the potential impacts of a decision disqualifying the late ballots. While he is supportive of the state's mail-in voting system, he took issue with how long it takes the state to finalize its elections. When it comes to accepting late ballots, Wilson said "a deadline is a deadline."

"If the question is, 'should you be able to have your ballot accepted when it's late? Is that reasonable?' The answer should be 'no,'" Wilson said.

State Sen. Peter Abbarno weighed in briefly on the issue as well in a statement to The Chronicle, saying he would like to see the state do more to encourage early voting and expand access to ballot drop boxes going into this year's election season in case a decision does disqualify late ballots.

Voter ID initiative

On top of election scrutiny from the federal government, another form of challenge to the state's voting systems is coming from inside the house.

Walsh filed the paperwork for a voter identification initiative in early February with plans for it to appear on the general election ballot in November - assuming it receives enough signatures in support. The initiative, IP26-500, if approved by voters, would require currently registered voters to submit proof of citizenship by 2027 and new voters to provide the same documents at the time of registration.

Walsh stopped short of saying the initiative is identical to the federal SAVE Act, clarifying that it deals only with voter identification and not other issues included in the SAVE Act, but he admits the policies have a lot in common. Just like the SAVE Act, the initiative from Walsh requires voters to prove citizenship by presenting certain documents. Accepted documents include enhanced drivers licenses such as Real ID along with passports, documents of naturalization and birth certificates.

The initiative doesn't directly deal with mail-in voting in the state. But Walsh, a well known critic of mail-in voting, said he sees the state's mail-in only elections as a source of concerns with voter security.

"We lack the organic corrective mechanisms that in person voting states have where you have to go to a polling place," Walsh said. "You have to show an ID of some sort, and you usually sign on a laptop or a tablet of some sort."

On Thursday, after his interview with The Chronicle, Walsh aired a live video of himself with piles of ballots he said were turned in by a citizen who found them in a dumpster.

"THIS is evidence of WA's election integrity and security issues," he wrote. "He found the ballots in a box. On the ground. Next to a dumpster. Behind a strip mall. The concerned citizen says he contacted King County Elections. No interest. WA Secretary of State. Nothing. His Congress representative. Nothing. So, he came to me. This is a mess. At least a few of these ballots show up in the state election history web page as having been cast! THIS is why we need the Voter ID initiative/IP26-500. It will help clean up the state's registered voter database. And avoid boxes of misplaced ballots, sitting in a box. Next to a dumpster behind a strip mall in Renton."

On the overall concern of mail-in voting, Orcutt voiced a perspective similar to Walsh, stating he would like to see voter citizenship verified at registration.

"I have concerns that our laws allowing registration based on a signed document stating the registrant is eligible to vote falls short of the standard of assuring that the registrant is a U. S. citizen," Orcutt said.

Walsh's initiative, which on the state's database of 2026 initiatives to the people is titled Washington Voter ID Requirement v2, is Walsh's second attempt at using the initiative process to implement voter identification policies. The first initiative, which failed to receive enough signatures, was an initiative to the Legislature and would have attempted to compel state lawmakers to take action during the 2026 legislative session and, failing that, would have appeared on the ballot this fall.

Hobbs has regularly shut down concerns over election security in Washington state. In a short statement at the end of March, he referred to voter fraud in the state of Washington as "incredibly rare." According to the secretary of state, Washington has had 15 cases of confirmed non-citizen voting between 1982 and 2025 out of millions of ballots cast.

Even so, Walsh and his seatmate, state Rep. Joel McEntire, R-Cathlamet, still question the security of the mail-in voting system. In an interview with The Chronicle, McEntire said that while he sees widespread support for mail-in voting in the state, he also hears concerns about voter security and a desire from constituents to implement voter identification.

"The fear with mail-in voting, and I agree with this, is that it's probably not the most secure method of voting," McEntire said.

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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 11:24 AM.