If you're registered to vote in Washington state, you should have already received your ballot in the mail for the November 6 election. However, some King County voters received more than one ballot.
“It’s got my name on the first one, and the second one says replacement ballot, and the barcodes on the bottom are off by one digit. So, I'm thinking this is kinda funny,” said voter Christopher Sterling.
Sterling wrote about the issue on Facebook and discovered he wasn’t alone.
“The thing I’m concerned about is why am I getting two, and there’s no instructions other than replacement ballot, and I didn’t request a replacement ballot,” said Sterling.
King County Elections Director Julie Wise says the issue isn't uncommon. It can happen any time a voter updates their information after the list of voters is sent to their print vendor in late September.
A name change, new address, or a new driver’s license number can trigger the creation of a second replacement ballot.
“We try to make sure that voters don't get those two ballots, but we know each election that thousands of voters are going to get a replacement ballot,” said Wise.
A spokeswoman for King County Elections says more than 37,000 replacement ballots were sent out this election. However, the majority of those voters should have received only one ballot. An estimated 16,000 voters received both their original ballot and the replacement ballot with new information.
“Any time a voter updates their information or the department of licensing gives us new information about the voter, it will trigger another ballot to go out to the voter. We call those replacement ballots, but our system is set up so that only one ballot is counted on return,” Wise continued.
If you do receive a replacement ballot, King County Elections urges you to fill out and send back the "replacement."
If a replacement ballot is sent out, the system is set up to inactivate the first one, so only one vote is counted. However, if you return the original ballot and don’t return the replacement, King County Elections says it can go back to try and verify the first ballot and races for which you’re eligible to vote.
King County Elections workers will be working around the clock through election day to prep ballots, verify signatures, and make sure that your one vote is counted.
Wise also urges voters to track their ballots online and return them well in advance of the postmark deadline. It’s recommended that you drop your ballot in the mail by the Friday before election day to ensure it is picked up by the postal service and postmarked in time.
You can also drop your ballot to a drop box location up until the 8 p.m. deadline on November 6. Drop boxes are open 24 hours a day and do not require postage. A reminder that all ballot postage is pre-paid this year.
“If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about it, so if I want to vote, I want my vote to count,” said Sterling.
Voters with any questions about their ballots, a missing ballot, or an extra ballot should call King County Elections at 206-296-VOTE.
