“He obviously was way out front on this, that was what spurred me to be an advocate for it,” said Hunt, who is currently a senator who chairs a committee that handles election legislation. Meanwhile, Reed’s efforts converted others, like Sam Hunt, a longtime Democratic Olympia lawmaker. “People really liked it.”įor advice, Washington officials at that time could call their counterparts in Oregon, the one state further ahead in mail voting. “The word got out and voom, it just took off,” Reed said. Most notable among them may have been a 1991 law allowing any voter to sign up for an absentee ballot - and keep automatically receiving them for future elections. More milestones came in the 1990s, with laws that allowed local election officials to expand or experiment further. They’re going to look it up if they have a voters pamphlet … or talk to somebody who’s knowledgeable.” “And by that ballot sitting there, in their home, before they vote, guess what? They’re not just going to say ‘hey that rings a bell,’ and vote. “I really believed in getting an informed electorate,” said Reed, a Republican who went on to serve as secretary of state from 2001 to 2013. And, he saw it as a way to better inform voters. Mail ballots could boost turnout and combat shortages of capable poll workers, said Reed. Other voters could request an absentee ballot, but had to make that request in writing, and for each election.Īt that time, Thurston County Auditor Sam Reed saw an opportunity. Washington’s changes began in earnest in 1983, when the Legislature passed a law allowing special elections to be conducted by mail.īefore then, absentee mail ballots had been available to voters with disabilities or who were 65 or older, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. “Unless the election is very overwhelming for one side, I think … we are really headed for a difficult time,” said Kastama, who is now a Puyallup City Council member. States expanding mail balloting are figuring out processes while in some cases still having to set up polling places, all with limited time and resources. That worries Jim Kastama, a former Democratic state senator who in 2005 spearheaded some of Washington’s key election security reforms. In a close race, challenges and uncertainties could provide confusion, or fodder for those want to cast doubt on election results. Some fights could extend to Election Day and beyond. Wyman - along with local election officials in King, Snohomish and other counties - say they’re confident Washington’s elections will run smoothly.Įlsewhere, states - including hotly contested battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - must wade through questions and legal challenges as they prepare for mail balloting. Those elements have combined to put mail balloting in a spotlight like never before. Postal Service (USPS) changes that created widespread delivery delays this summer are halted for now, as a federal judge ordered. At the same time, states are making sure recent U.S. They must adapt as Trump - who dropped a mail ballot in a drop box in this summer’s primary election, just like many Washingtonians do - continues to say he may question the election results. 3 election amid the coronavirus pandemic. Now, other states are rushing to adopt or expand mail balloting for the Nov. But the move to Washington’s all-mail voting - which has a host of safeguards against fraud and is considered one of the better-protected ones against foreign interference - took decades of trial and error.
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