Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX –– The November general election is projected to be so big that Whitman County is adding ballot drop boxes.
General election ballots were mailed Oct. 9 to Whitman County voters and Auditor Sandy Jamison is anticipating 20,000 ballots to be returned. The county is set to install three new drop boxes this week for the influx.
"Please vote early," she said.
Once residents received ballots, they can be filled out and returned immediately, she said. For those who choose to hang on to their ballots, they must be deposited in drop boxes or postmarked by Nov. 3.
Jamison advised people who submit their ballots on the last day to be aware of the pickup times for the individual mailbox or office.
"Those vary by post offices," she said.
On election day, ballots dropped off after the mail has been picked up will not receive the Nov. 3 postmark and will not be counted, she said. So long as ballots are in the mail on time, Jamison is sure they will reach the Elections Office.
"I'm very confident in our mail system here in Whitman County," she said.
For those who opt out of mailing their ballots, there are drop boxes in Colfax and Pullman.
In Colfax, ballots can be dropped off inside the elections office during business hours or in the ballot deposit box in the alley behind the election center.
In Pullman, ballot boxes are located on Paradise Street outside Hinrichs Trading Co. and on campus outside the west entrance to the union building on Terrell Mall.
The three new boxes are all set to be installed in Pullman. One will be outside Dissmores IGA and one at the Chinook Student Center at Washington State University. Another box will join the one currently in place at Paradise Street.
On election day, staffed boxes will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Student Hub on the second floor of the union building and at the Pullman Recreation Center's bottom floor, gymnasium entrance.
The recreation center location replaces the box formerly at the old Pullman City Hall.
Ballot deposit boxes are checked regularly by elections personnel. Once received, the ballot envelope is scanned and staff manually verify the address on the envelope to match the one in the voter's profile. At the time of verification the ballot envelopes are sealed.
If a signature does not match the one on file, elections staff will make multiple attempts to contact the individual to send in another signature. If the attempts to verify fail, the ballot is saved for the canvassing board's decision.
The canvassing board comprises the Board of County Commission chairman, Whitman County prosecuting attorney and Jamison.
After the signature is verified, the ballot is separated from the envelope with the envelope facing down, Mishellena Stanley, elections supervisor, said. The envelope is removed before the ballot is unfolded. The ballot is placed in a box as part of a batch of at least 100 to 200. Jamison noted that doing the ballots in batches helps protect voter anonymity.
Ballots are then sealed in the boxes until tabulation beginning on Nov. 2, when they are removed and run through the tabulator machine.
"It's all very secure," Stanley said.
Prior to the election, the tabulator goes through a logic and accuracy test. The date and time of the test will be printed in a legal advertisement in the Oct. 15 issue of the Whitman County Gazette. The test takes about 10 minutes and is open to the public.
The tabulator machine and reporting machine are not connected to the internet or other networks, Jamison said. It protects them from being hacked.
Tabulation is done quickly, but the process prior to that can be more time-consuming, Jamison noted. One reason for the emphasis to vote early is so the verification process can be conducted earlier. She expects only about 25% of the ballots returned are tabulated on election night, mostly due to when they are sent in.
She urged citizens to not call race outcomes based on that first count.
Ballot tabulation will continue for about two weeks after election day with results updated regularly.
Voters concerned about the status of their ballot can check by calling the office or through votewa.gov. Jamison advised people who mail their ballots to give adequate time for the ballot to be received before checking on the status. Once a ballot's signature has been verified, the status will show it has been accepted.
People with out-of-county ballots can still mail or deposit them at Whitman County locations. The ballots are forwarded to their respective counties by the local elections office.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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