Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, teamed up Wednesday to announce that significantly more mail-in ballots were disqualified as “late” in the August primary election than in prior elections.
That uptick, they said, was a result of changes to U.S. Postal Service postmarking protocols the agency implemented last December.
Across the state, the rate of ballots that were rejected for late postmarks increased by 32% in the August primary, as compared to the August 2024 primary, according to data released by Hobbs and Cantwell’s offices. Rates of rejection were higher in rural counties, per the report.
“The post office is taking your ballot as a piece of mail but not stamping it that day,” Cantwell said. “They are waiting and going to a distribution center, and then later postmarking that and may thereby be delaying your actual vote.”
Cantwell advised voters to mail their ballots as early as possible, or use county-provided drop boxes for the upcoming November election. Voters who mail their ballots even several days in advance of Election Day may experience delays in postmarking and risk a ballot being disqualified, according to the report.