SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane County Elections Office is setting the record straight about the number of ballots rejected in the county after an unverified website started making the rounds online.
The Washington Office Secretary of State said on Twitter that it reported the votewashington.info website to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Center for Internet Security.
Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said it appeared the website was pulling numbers from the Secretary of State’s website, but the numbers were so old that it was misleading. Dalton recommends voters use the votewa.gov website for registration and tracking their ballot.
Dalton said as of noon Tuesday, 2,854 ballots required additional processing. Of those ballots, 1,785 are waiting for a second review of the signature, she said.
Based on past history, Dalton said nearly 80 percent of the signatures awaiting review will be verified and the ballots will be cleared for counting. She said the ballots that don’t get cleared will be added to the “signature does not match” category and the voter will be sent a letter in the mail instructing them on how to fix the error.
Only 1,069 ballot envelopes have failed signature verification or have another problem that prevents the ballot from being counted, Dalton said. Only 27 of those ballots cannot be rescued by the voter. She said 12 of those votes indicate the voter died and 15 indicated the voter moved out of state.
Dalton said the 1,042 voters whose ballots were rejected can “rescue” their vote when a letter is sent to them in the mail instructing them on how to fix the issue. Voters have until Nov. 23 to return the completed letter.
Here are 10 reasons why ballots were rejected
- Hold – waiting for a more current ballot to arrive: 19
- ID Required – voter did not pass ID check when registering: 54
- No Signature on File: 16
- Someone in household signed – waiting for ballot from other voter: 13
- Power of Attorney: 7
- Signature does not match: 754
- Unsigned: 172
- Voter Name Change (waiting verification): 1
- Witness signature missing: 4
- Canvassing board to resolve: 2
The KREM Voter Access Team is working to get you the information and dates you need for the 2020 Election. Click here to view the KREM Voter's Guide. Text the word 'Vote' to 509-448-2000 for important deadlines and information, or text 'Ballot' for links on how to check the status of your ballot in Washington and Idaho.
