You might remember that old cynical slogan with its illegal suggestion: “Vote early. And often,” usually attributed to former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. Washington voters need to adopt a slightly different version of that to make sure their ballots count, and make it just as well-known: “Vote early. And use a drop box.”
Thinly veiled intimidation from the Trump administration (the president called voting by mail “inherently corrupt” despite no evidence to back it up) has caused rumors to swirl around states’ vote-by-mail systems. They have sown doubt and raised questions right when voters should be spending time researching candidates and initiatives. Instead, now that voters are getting ready to turn in their votes, many are wondering if mailing their ballot is the best way.
By now, the answer is no, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told the editorial board. If you haven’t returned your ballot yet, use a drop box if at all possible.
In what it called an effort to save money but is actually an effective tactic in delaying ballot returns, the United States Postal Service stopped postmarking all mail locally last year. Instead, most mail goes to regional processing facilities for postmarking. That sounds efficient, but here’s what it means: You can no longer automatically assume your ballot will be postmarked the day it arrives at your local post office, drop it in a USPS mailbox or even hand it to your carrier. It will sit in a bin for a while, and then go for a ride before being stamped. Your ballot might not be postmarked until days after you mailed it. If you’re a last-minute voter, well, you do the math. It equals your ballot possibly missing the deadline of being postmarked by Nov. 3 and being tossed out.
This is a growing, alarming problem, Hobbs said. Statewide, the number of ballots tossed for late postmarks is rising. Out of the 1.9 million ballots returned in the August primary, just over 20,000 were rejected due to a late postmark. By comparison, in the much larger 2024 general election, about 4,600 of 4 million returned ballots were rejected for having a late postmark. This affects rural counties even more, as people are farther from drop boxes and their mail takes longer to get to one of the processing centers.
No doubt many of those were mailed by folks who had no idea mail didn’t get stamped that same day. You’re right to be peevish, angry even, about the slow-to-nonexistent rollout of this information, which also affects tax payments, bills, payroll and other time-sensitive documents that must be stamped with a particular date or risk penalties for late payment. The announcement was made Dec. 24, 2025, which is not a day when most Americans were focused on the mail. That’s correct — this major shift in mail delivery rolled out on Christmas Eve.
The good news for Washingtonians is that the state is peppered with safe ballot-return drop boxes; nearly 600 of them statewide. They are locked, made of steel, weigh hundreds of pounds and are bolted to the ground. While that might dent a monster truck trying to take one out, it didn’t deter a would-be saboteur who set ballots alight in drop boxes in Vancouver, Wash., and tried to in Portland, in 2024. Hobbs also described a recent attempt to fry ballots in which the perpetrator stuffed a handful of burning leaves through a drop box slot. That effort went nowhere. The state has increased drop box security with cameras, heat sensors and other measures to thwart bad actors, Hobbs said.
Voters, here is your task. Get your completed ballots — don’t forget your signature — to a drop box by 8 p.m. Nov. 3, Election Day. Don’t risk the mail. If you don’t live near a drop box, Hobbs suggests going to a post office and asking for your ballot to be stamped right there and then. Don’t let rain nor heat nor gloom of night keep you from your appointment with democracy.
For drop box locations, tracking your ballot, observing vote counts and data from past elections, visit: st.news/votenow
