You should have received your ballot in the mail

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Editor's note: This story is part of the Cascadia Daily News' “Pre-Bunking” miniseries on misinformation and disinformation leading up to the 2024 election. The series will continue to explore the democratic process in Whatcom County.

Registered voters should have received their ballots by now, Whatcom County Auditor Stacy Henthorn confirmed Wednesday, Oct. 23. With the election less than two weeks away, that means anyone who hasn't received their election mail should contact the auditor's office.

Every active registered voter in the county was mailed a ballot, secret envelope and return envelope on Wednesday, October 16th. The return envelope was printed with a unique barcode representing its ballot ID number and requires an appropriate signature before it can be counted – measures to protect against voter fraud.

As of Tuesday, October 22, more than 15,000 ballots had been accepted by the voting center.

Anyone who has not yet received their ballot is asked to visit the Auditor's Office at 311 Grand Ave., Suite 103 and request a replacement. The replacement ballot will be issued with a different ballot ID number to ensure that only one ballot is accepted for each voter. Replacement ballots can also be printed via VoteWA.gov.

Anyone who is not eligible to vote but is entitled to do so can still register until the final minutes of the election.

It will be possible to go to any election office and register until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Whatcom County Deputy Auditor Amy Grasher previously told the Cascadia Daily News.

In addition to regular hours, the Auditor's Office will be open for voter registration and ballot distribution on Saturday, November 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Henthorn encouraged voters to track their ballot once they have voted by texting “VOTE” to 868392. After registering, the voter will be notified when their ballot has been received and if it is either accepted or rejected.

In cases where a ballot is rejected, election officials will contact the voter.

“We will send you a letter, we will call you, we will send you an email. And if you sign up for text messaging, you will be notified that your ballot was rejected and the steps to resolve the issue,” Grasher said.

Voters who do not wish to sign up to receive text messages can access the same information by logging in to VoteWA.gov.

Anyone receiving absentee ballots for a voter who no longer lives at their address is asked to write “Return to sender, not to this address” and mail it back to the comptroller.

“This can happen when people move and don’t update their voter registration,” Henthorn noted.

Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN's corporate/investigative reporter; reach him at [email protected]; 360-922-3090 ext 127.