King County voters in participating districts have already returned about 40,000 ballots for the Feb. 14 Special Election, but that is still not as many as expected by this date.
The King County Elections Department would like to remind voters participating in this election to get their ballots in the mail or return them to a ballot drop box as soon as possible, but no later than the 8:00 p.m. Election Day deadline.
By law, elections officials must verify the signature on each ballot before opening and processing it. King County Elections checks every ballot return envelope to verify that the voter signature matches the one on file from that person’s voter registration.
If the two signatures do not match or the signature on the ballot return envelope is missing, Elections will not open and count the ballot until the department has resolved the signature discrepancy with the voter.
The Elections Department attempts to contact all voters whose signatures are missing or do not match the one on file. Voters are encouraged to respond promptly to resolve the signature issue in time to count their ballot.
Voters can help to avoid signature issues by returning their ballots early and signing the declaration on the back of the return envelope with their official signature. For more information about signing the ballot return envelope, watch a short Elections video (external link).
Voters who have returned their ballots can use Ballot Tracker on the Elections website to confirm that Elections has received their ballot and credited them with voting.
Contact Elections at 206-296-VOTE (8683) for questions or to resolve a signature issue.
Get King County Elections news and updates at the following places:
– Online: www.kingcounty.gov/elections
– Facebook: www.facebook.com/kingcountyelections
– Twitter: @kcelections
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