Thousands of Tri-Cities ballots at risk if Supreme Court changes mail voting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Supreme Court decision could force ballots to arrive by election day in Washington.
- Tri‑Cities had 4,500 late-but-counted ballots in 2024; under 4% affected.
- Officials urge drop‑box use, early voting and outreach to protect ballot access.
An upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision could require thousands in the Tri-Cities to change their last-minute voting habits.
The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, was argued in March and a decision is expected this summer.
The high court appears poised to overturn a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots that are postmarked but arrive late after election day to be counted. That means those ballots would have to arrive by election day to count.
A decision could require dozens of states with similar laws — Washington included — to make changes in the lead-up to November’s competitive midterm election.
The Evergreen State counts ballots received after election day so long as they are postmarked before or on election day.
“If this comes to pass, it will make the drop boxes a more reliable choice,” said Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton.
About 127,000 postmarked ballots arrived late but qualified to be counted in Washington’s November 2024 presidential election.
That includes 4,500 in the Tri-Cities region – 2,700 ballots in Benton County and 1,800 in Franklin County.
But a change requiring ballots to arrive earlier at county election centers could further shake Tri-City voter trust in the U.S. Postal Service to deliver them in time.
That confidence has frayed over the last decade with the closure of the Pasco processing facility and recent changes to transportation operations.
Tri-City mail, regardless of its destination, is postmarked when it arrives at the postal service’s regional processing center near the Spokane International Airport.
That means some postmarks are made days after being picked up by mail carriers, a delay that can disqualify ballots.
One exception is voters can get a hand-stamped postmark from a postal clerk in person at a local post office.
Janella Herron, a U.S. Postal Service corporate communications member, said Tri-Cities mail has been sorted and postmarked in Spokane for over a decade, though she did not address delayed delivery issues.
“The Postal Service has a robust and tested process for proper handling and timely delivery of election mail,” she wrote in an email. “Every federal election cycle, we make efforts across the nation to inform local and state election officials about mailing procedures, our operational standards, and our recommended best practices for utilizing the mail.”
‘Secure and accurate elections’
The Washington Secretary of State’s Office, which supervises and supports state and local elections, already recommends voters use a drop box or go to a voting center if they’re returning their ballot within seven days of an election.
A spokesperson for the office said they still recommend voters take “full advantage” of the 18-day voting period, to vote early and sign up for ballot status text messages.
It’s unclear how early postmasters and the Secretary of State would recommend Washingtonians return ballots by mail if the court overturns the Mississippi law.
“Washington’s vote-by-mail elections reflect decades of secure and accurate elections, removing barriers to citizens who want to participate in our democratic process,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“If the Supreme Court decision does enforce a total ban on ballots received after election day, we would increase existing efforts to ensure voters understand their options,” the statement continues.
Still, Tri-City election officials say a switch to an election day deadline would not be a huge lift for their offices and would impact only a fraction of voters in the region.
Late-arriving ballots through the mail made up less than 4% of all returned in the two counties in the November 2024 election. Most Tri-City voters — about 7-in-10 — opted to submit their ballots in one of the nearly 20 drop boxes located throughout the region.
Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton said her office is already on the cusp of creating another “drop box team” due to the volume of ballots that are being returned.
“There’s a risk of the boxes filling up quicker, so we would potentially need to pick up more than once a day,” she said.
Benton County will open its 12th drop box out at the Southridge Sports and Events Complex later this year. Chilton said their goal is to ensure voters don’t have to drive or commute more than 3 miles to get to a box.
Chilton encourages voters to return their ballots early, but she doesn’t fault late arrivers. Late-breaking information about a candidate or their policies can often times come out just days before elections, and even-year general election ballots can be long and filled with complex measures and initiatives.
“Candidates are really pushing their messaging during those days leading up to election day,” she said.
Beaton said eager voters will “adjust to the system,” regardless of how the Supreme Court rules. He characterized it as “only a slight change.”
His office doesn’t have plans currently to add drop boxes, though they’re constantly weighing demand.
“My sense is people will be more than happy to comply,” he said. “My hope is if this comes to pass, the widespread drop box system that we have will just be more widely utilized.”
Both Beaton and Chilton say the biggest hurdle will be educating and reaching voters about getting their ballots in sooner. Voters could be confused about the changes, too.
Mississippi v. Republican National Committee
Washington is one of more than a dozen states that accepts late ballots after election day. That includes California, Oregon and Nevada.
Late votes tend to swing more progressive in Washington state, though Chilton said she isn’t sure whether that tracks for the Tri-Cities region. Voters are more likely to keep their ballot for longer if there are many candidates or ballot measures to consider.
The change could prove nominal in Oregon, which, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting, only began accepting late ballots in 2022 and before that had an election night cutoff.
Stuart Holmes, Washington’s elections director, was more critical of the possible change. He told the Seattle Times that disqualifying those voters would create a barrier “for not compelling reason.”
The fight over Mississippi’s election law pits the state’s elections chief against the Republican National Committee and a group of conservatives, who believe it violates federal law requiring the receipt and finalization of ballots by election day.
Mississippi officials defending the law argue states already have broad power and responsibility over elections, and that the law allows voters to make their choice before the end of election day.
