WHITMAN COUNTY, Wash. — Some Whitman County ballots are missing after being processed by the U.S. Postal Service in Spokane.
According to the Whitman County Auditor, all of the county's ballots were processed out of the post office's main Spokane plant earlier this month.
However, some of those ballots never made it to registered voters.
Inside Whitman County's courthouse, it's not police or prosecutors investigating less than a week out from Election Day.
"My goal here is to make sure every voter in Whitman County who's properly registered gets a ballot," said Auditor Sandy Jamison. "That's part of my job."
Jamison said the ballots made it to the Spokane processing facility plant and were scanned in there. Jamison said the post office told her there was a 99.6% successful scan rate, but is still questioning where the ballots are.
The trail goes cold between there and Garfield. All clues pinpoint to this being the ballots' missed destination, specifically mailboxes in town.
Jamison surmises that over 200 voters in Garfield will have to request a replacement ballot.
"I think it's maybe a tray of ballots," Jamison said. "The majority of people we're hearing from have a PO box in Garfield and they didn't get a ballot."
Jamison knows they never made it to the post office. That was the first lead she tracked down. So now, she's gotten on the case of USPS. Its state investigators are helping her track down the tickets.
"They know I'm being persistent and I've told my registered voters here I'll continue to investigate because I want an answer," Jamison said.
If you are a Whitman County voter who hasn't received a ballot, the county is asking you to call 509-397-5284, and you will get a new one.