Article by Charli Sorenson
Did you know that if you mail back your completed ballot, it has to date/time stamped no later than 8pm on election day, November 5?
Were you aware that – on average and according to the US Postal Service – it takes them 2.5 days to deliver first class mail?
Did you know that US mail is not postmarked/date stamped until it is sorted?
Did you also know that no mail is currently sorted in Kittitas County?
That’s right. Currently, all US mail is shipped out of county to be sorted and postmarked. In some cases, mail from our county is first shipped to Yakima where it is added to other mail before it is then shipped to Spokane or the Seattle/Tacoma area for sorting. These days, NONE of our US mail in Kittitas County is postmarked/date stamped in county.
Why does this matter?
Well, if you wait until the last couple of days to return your completed ballot in any election, you may miss the 8pm postmark deadline if you mail your ballot through the US Post Office – especially if you mail it in Ellensburg! Ellensburg mail leaves for the sorting facility at 5:45pm on weekdays. It is optimistic to expect that mail to make it to the sorting facility in Spokane or Seattle and be sorted/postmarked within 2.25 hours on election day. To say nothing of the Postal Service’s 2.5 day average delivery time!
So, if you wait until the last possible day to vote or return your ballot, the League of Women Voters recommend that you absolutely positively SHOULD NOT put it in your mailbox! Instead, you should:
- put your completed ballot in the nearest ballot drop box to be sure it will be counted (there are nine around the county), OR
- take your completed ballot to your local US Post Office and ask local postal staff to hand cancel your ballot envelope. Hand cancelling your ballot will ensure it is postmarked before the 8pm deadline.
To be absolutely sure your completed ballot is counted, the League of Women Voters recommends you use the nearest ballot drop box in the last 4 days of any election.
Be a Voter! Be Counted!
This article was co-published by Ellensburg Daily Record Newspaper on November 2, 2024. Charli Sorenson is the past President of the Kittitas County League of Women Voters. She has also served on the Ellensburg Affordable Housing Commission, Kittitas County Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee, and Kittitas County Elections Disability Advisory Committee. She lives in Kittitas County with her long-suffering husband of 47 years.