WASHINGTON — On the eve of Election Day, Nov. 8, if your ballot hasn’t been dropped off yet, there are still options. Here’s a rundown before you cast your vote:
Make sure you’re registered to vote.
Check Washington registration status here. If you find that you aren’t registered, or you’re registered for the wrong county, the time has passed for mail-in or online voter registration.
That doesn’t mean you can’t register, however.
You can register to vote up until 8 p.m. on Election Day by appearing in-person at a local voting center. Find your local voting centers below.
Benton * Franklin * Kittitas * Walla Walla * Yakima
The three ways to get your vote counted
Mailing your ballot in
If you’re mailing your ballot in now, your ballot must be postmarked by Nov. 8 to count.
“If you can’t get to a drop-box and you can get to a post office, you can have it hand-canceled. It needs that postmark that has to be on Election Day or prior, and this year it’s the 8th,” said Matt Beaton, Franklin County Auditor.
“On election day, some of the postal mailing boxes are picked up earlier in the day. So, if you are mailing your ballot on election day, you’ll want to double check to make sure that the last cutoff time has not passed,” said Brenda Chilton, Benton County Auditor.
Drop box drop off
As an alternative, the auditors said to use one of the many drop boxes located throughout your county.
Drop boxes are the way they recommend your vote is collected, postmarked and ready to go for Election Day.
Find your closest drop boxes below.
Benton * Franklin * Kittitas * Walla Walla * Yakima
In-person voting
There’s also a way to vote in-person in Washington through the use of voting machines.
“They’re called accessible voting units. They’re designed to be used for individuals who might have, you know, some special challenges to voting such as blind voters, but they are available to all voters if they choose to use a machine,” said Chilton.
The main points the county auditors wanted to get across is vote it, sign it and send it. Get your ballot in as soon as you can.
“People wonder why it takes so long, sometimes to process the ballots, but there’s a whole process of what we have to do. Batching it, to signature checking, to getting them ready to go to the tabulators. So, the sooner we get the ballots in, the more apt we are to get the results out a little quicker for everybody,” said Karen Martin, Walla Walla County Auditor.
A comprehensive list of Washington voting centers and drop boxes can be found here.
READ: 2022 General Election Checklist for Benton and Franklin Counties
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