We are in the midst of voting! Here is (kind of a lot, but I found it really interesting) information from our County Auditor's office about this election.
First, in our County, 36.1% of voters have returned their ballots, as compared to a 41.7% return rate statewide. Get your ballot dropped off/mailed now!
Voter Turnout
Snohomish County Elections anticipates an 80-90% turnout of registered voters. Snohomish County has approximately 500,000 registered voters. As a result, they anticipate receiving between 400,000 to 450,000 voted ballots.
Historically half of all ballots are returned prior to Election Day. The percentage of ballots returned by mail versus ballot drop box varies each election and has ranged from 45-65% of ballots returned through ballot drop boxes.
Voting Processes
This year’s ballot is 14” long and contains races and issues on both sides of the ballot.
Snohomish County and Washington state voters have been successfully voting by mail for the last 15 years. Vote-by-mail is a safe, secure method for voting. Snohomish County has a strong partnership with our local U.S. Postal Service officials, actively monitoring the mailing and return of ballots to ensure timely delivery.
Voters should act early this election to ensure:
o their ballot is returned on-time,
o they have plenty of time to resolve any signature issues that may occur,
o their votes are counted as part of the Election Night results, and
o lines at ballot drop boxes and accessible voting sites are kept to a minimum, keeping voters and election workers safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can register to vote in person through election day during normal business hours of 9am to 5pm at the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office, 3000 Rockefeller Ave, Everett. You can also register a bit closer to Mukilteo on October 31 10am-4pm, Monday November 2 8:30am-6pm and on Election Day, November 3 8:30am-8pm at the Alderwood Water and Wastewater District, 3626 156th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98087 (that's also a place where voters with disabilities can vote in person using assistive voting equipment, during those same times).
November 3rd at 8pm is also the deadline for getting your ballot into a dropbox (you can use any dropbox in the State- it will make its way to the appropriate County). If you're postmarking it, keep in mind mailbox pick-up times (and no postage is needed).
If your signature gets questioned by Elections staff, you will be notified (if you have an up to date contact method attached to your registration or if you write your phone or email on the outside of your ballot). You'll have until November 23 by 5pm to get it resolved.
Ballot Processes and Counting
Snohomish County is operating a ballot processing center for the 2020 Presidential Election (the Presidential Remote Election Site (PRES)). Ballot processing began last week, Monday, October 19. Ballots are processed in the order as they arrive. The earlier voters send in their ballots, the earlier their ballots are readied for tabulation on Election Night.
Employees that participate in Elections processes receive training specific to their assigned tasks. In addition, employees assigned to signature checking receive training from the Washington State Patrol on the signature comparison process. Employees also take an oath to perform their duties in conformance with the constitution and election law.
Every ballot returned will have the signature on the outside of the envelope matched against the voter’s signature on file in our voter registration system. A positive match must occur for the ballot to be further processed and ultimately counted. Once a positive signature match is confirmed, the ballot is removed from the outer envelope in a manner which preserves voter privacy. The ballot is then scanned to capture the marks made in each race or ballot measure. The ballot scanning process does not tabulate any votes on the ballot.
Once the ballot is scanned, ballot images are reviewed for marks that were not captured properly as votes. These marks are adjudicated by a team of two staff people following rules detailed in Washington State’s Voter Intent Guide. All counties in Washington State use the same Voter Intent Guide, ensuring uniform interpretations of voter marks across the State.
Election results cannot be tabulated or released until 8pm Election Night (that's basically when they hit GO, while we all hit "refresh" on the State's website, waiting for returns! At least, that's how I spend most election nights).
Testing, Auditing and Security
All vote counting equipment used in Snohomish County is tested by a federally accredited testing lab and is certified for use by the Washington State Secretary of State’s Office. The vote counting equipment and technical environment is isolated and air-gapped from all other networks. The vote counting equipment does not contain any wireless connections and is not connected to the internet or other networks.
Prior to each election, the equipment is tested to ensure it is properly functioning. Additionally, a public logic and accuracy test witnessed by a representative of the Secretary of State’s Office is performed to demonstrate that the equipment has been properly programmed and is accurately counting ballots and votes.
Election Certification
Election results for state and local races are unofficial until certified by Snohomish County and the Washington State Secretary of State. Election certification at the County will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The State is scheduled to certify by Thursday, Dec. 3. The County certification is performed by a three-person Canvassing Board whose membership is established by state law. Snohomish County’s Canvassing Board for the Presidential General Election is County Auditor Garth Fell, County Councilmember Sam Low and County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Cornell.
Once the State certifies its results, the Presidential Electoral process is triggered. Washington State sends 12 electors from the winning presidential ticket to meet on December 14 to cast their votes for the nominees. The votes will be sent to the President of the U.S. Senate and National Archives. Congress will meet on January 6, 2021 to count the votes and announce the results.
Resources
For voter assistance, contact Snohomish County Elections at 425-388-3444, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Online Resources:
• Votewa.gov– personalized voter information including candidate statements and ballots status
• www.snoco.org/elections - election information such as the voters’ pamphlet, sample ballots and election results
• Election results are also posted to the Washington State Secretary of State’s webpage at sos.wa.gov/elections. The Secretary of State’s results include counts from all counties and contain combined results for multi-county races.