Officials urge WA voters to use drop boxes for Nov. 4 election

If you’re thinking of mailing in your ballot for the Nov. 4 election, it might be too late.

Voters should consider submitting their ballots at a drop box location instead.

Under a proposed rule change from the U.S. Postal Service, the agency clarified that ballots mailed at the last minute might not be postmarked on the day they are received. Only ballots postmarked on Election Day or before can be counted under Washington’s vote-by-mail rules.

The Postal Service is proposing to add language that the “postmark date does not inherently or necessarily align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of a mail piece.”

USPS has also stopped counting Saturday as a transit day, has reduced afternoon pickups, and slowed some first-class mail delivery standards.

Voters in some Washington counties noticed during the August primary that ballots weren’t always marked the same day carriers picked them up, MyNorthwest reported, citing a King County Elections spokesperson.

The Washington Secretary of State’s office encouraged voters to use drop boxes after Oct. 28. To find a drop box near you, check out the Washington Secretary of State office’s drop box locator.

For more information about the Washington general election, check out The Seattle Times’ voter guide.