WA Election Civics-Things I Didn’t Know

Dear Group,

When I was a kid Election Day was a big deal. My family didn’t spend a lot of time discussing politics, but my parents always voted. To them it was an important civic duty. I remember the line of people, the official confirmation and checking off of registered voters, the greeting of neighbors from the precinct. I remember going into the voting booth with my dad, the curtain drawn, the levers on the old mechanical voting machine. It was a ritual, slightly mysterious, memorable.

Back then “Get Out the Vote” meant literally that: offering a ride to the precinct polling place to neighbors, often without paying much attention to whose voting level they might pull. Political parties, of course, worked hard to get the party faithful to the polls. It all happened on Election Day. It was a big deal. 

I thought that was all gone when Washington State went to all mail-in ballots. Last year when I first encountered “GOTV” as an abbreviation I was puzzled. Go TV? A new cable channel? Once a kindly Democrat took pity on me and explained it meant “Get Out the Vote” I thought, “How odd…no one has to ‘get out’ at all. That’s a dumb, inaccurate abbreviation.” Well, at least in part, I was wrong. Again.

Election Day Buzz Lives on–If you help

Casting ballots in Washington State is not a done deal until 8PM on Election Day, even if you’ve lost or never received your ballot and even if you’ve just not done your homework. At least in Spokane County there are six “Voter Service Center” locations that are open on Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, between 7AM and 8PM. (No other day, e.g. NOT Monday.)  I’ve reproduced the locations again below. (Copied from: here.) If you are knocking on doors or calling friends on Election Day and you find someone who thinks they are a registered voter but have lost or never received their ballot (but can be convinced to vote) it’s still not too late. You could offer to give them a ride to a Voter Service Center–just like the old days! 

At these Voter Service Centers you can: 

  • Drop Off Your Ballot
  • Get Replacement Envelopes
  • Vote a Provisional Ballot
  • Use an Accessible Voting Unit
  • Get Answers to Voting Questions

Let’s clarify some of that. I called the Elections Office with some questions and a very nice elections worker filled me in. 

A “Provisional” Ballot has everything on it that anyone anywhere in Spokane County has an option to vote on. The Elections Office takes these ballots over the next several days and cross-checks to make sure they are cast by a registered voter. Based on the voter’s address the “Provisional” Ballot is extracted so only votes cast in that address’s overlapping voting districts are actually counted. (e.g. my address is in LD3, the provisional ballot includes candidates in LD6 that I might mark, but in the extraction process, the LD6 votes I may have marked are discarded.) If that sounds like a nuisance for the Elections staff, it probably is, but they strive to get it exactly right.

To use an “Accessible Voting Unit” a voter with a disability brings their official ballot, puts it in the device and the device, in private, reads and displays the contents of the ballot to the voter and offers an easier way of marking the ballot than using of a black pen to fill in a tiny oval. Neat!

A registered voter who lost or cannot find or never received their ballot can also go to MyVote.wa.gov and, using their name and birthdate, can print out a replacement. (There’s nothing illegal about printing such a ballot out for someone who asks you to do so, but you will need their first and last names [as they were registered] and their date of birth. Of course, the voter him or herself needs to fill out and sign the ballot. Signatures are checked!) These ballots can be mailed in a regular envelope (I think these DO require postage, unlike the official envelopes) or they can be dropped at the ballot drop box locations (usually libraries). 

Put the “optional” daytime phone number on your outer ballot envelope. They really do check the signature against the signature on record. When there is a question they use the phone number to contact you.

It is the voter’s responsibility to be sure, if they are using the mail, that the last pickup from that mailbox is after the time they drop the ballot in the box. I was assured that the mail service is very meticulous about those times and about getting all the mail properly post-marked that gets picked up at the deadline for that mailbox . Election Day can still buzz! It is not over until it is over. Don’t slack off!

Bottom line: The Spokane County Elections Office (and, I’m sure other County Elections Offices in Washington State with which I am less familiar) do everything they can to make it easy to vote right up to the deadline. Take advantage of their diligence. It is our civic duty. The ballot casting process isn’t over until Tuesday evening, November 6, at 8PM. The final tally won’t be “certified” and official until November 27, three weeks later. It could come down to that.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

 

Voter Service Center Locations

Area

Location

Address

Downtown Spokane

Elections Office

1033 W Gardner Ave

 

STA Transit Plaza

701 W Riverside Ave

Northside

North Spokane Library

44 E Hawthorne Rd

Southside

Spokane South Hill Library

3324 S Perry St

Spokane Valley

CenterPlace Event Center

2426 N Discovery Pl

West Plains

Cheney Library

610 First St.