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EmailIt's election day: do you know where your ballot is? Did it go out with the recycling? Replacing it might be a whole lot easier than you think.
It turns out that our shift to all-mail voting also includes an element of email convenience. For anyone who has lost his or her ballot, King County has several last-minute options, including sending a replacement by email. Someone receiving an email ballot could then print it out, vote and sign the oath.
Kim van Ekstrom of King County Elections said anyone who has lost a ballot can call the office's voting line, 206-296-VOTE (8683), to discuss the options. It's also possible to go to the main office (9010 East Marginal Way S., Tukwila) to get another ballot, or to be allowed to vote at one of the accessible voting units in Bellevue and Tukwila.
The staff members can also explain how to return the ballot. Not to complicate things too much, but van Ekstrom said there are possibilities for sending the ballot back electronically, by return email or fax, to meet an 8 pm deadline this evening, but the actual paper ballot would have to be delivered soon afterward.
For most people, the questions at this point are not about replacing a lost ballot but just meeting the deadline for voting. Ballots returned by the US mail must be postmarked with today's date. The county's ballot drop boxes are open until 8 pm.
General information is available at the county elections web site. Among the issues before voters are school spending measures for more than a dozen school districts, including Seattle, and the King County Public Library System.
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Comments:
Posted Tue, Feb 9, 7:57 a.m. Inappropriate
Just another mechanism for fraud.
Posted Tue, Feb 9, 9:44 a.m. Inappropriate
Fascinating — I had no idea you could e-mail or fax your ballot now. Doesn't seem particularly secure; then again, neither does the mailstream. I'm glad the actual paper ballot still needs to be sent in.
So there are only five ballot drop boxes this year, I see — saves the county, and, therefore, us, quite a bit of money, but makes it even harder for people to avoid spending 44¢ to exercise their franchise. I wonder (not that I'm suggesting this) if anyone's ever thought of challenging this as a poll tax?
I also wonder, more seriously, if making ballots Business Reply Mail — even though it would cost us — would increase voter turnout. I still have stamps on hand, but I know a lot of people don't, and probably haven't set foot in a post office in years.
Posted Wed, Feb 10, 5:20 a.m. Inappropriate
Requesting a blank ballot by email is fine, especially if you're an overseas or military voter. But returning a voted ballot in that manner is not good or safe; yet that is what the Washington State legislature is contemplating.