Snohomish County voters will have to pay more to mail their ballot

election-2016-buttonBecause of extra-long ballots stuffed with initiatives, voters in Snohomish County — along with those in Whatcom County and most of Douglas County — will have to pay more than just the usual first-class stamp to return their ballots, our online news partner The Seattle Times reports.

In each county, the need for extra postage is noted on voter material and on the return envelope. Ballots were sent to voters across the state last week. In all but those three counties, it costs 47 cents — the price of one standard, first-class stamp — to return a ballot.

Snohomish County voters will have to pay 68 cents, the price the U.S. Postal Service charges for oversize or unusual envelopes, unless they opt to return their ballots via drop box. There are ballot drop boxes located just outside the downtown Edmonds Library on Main Street and in front of Lynnwood City Hall at 19100 44th Ave. W. If mailing via the U.S. Post Office, make sure your ballot will be postmarked or cancelled by Election Day, Nov. 8.

You can read more in the Times story here.

 

  1. The ballots have been at many homes for two days already. What about those of us who already have mailed them? Unfortunately, they should have marked that in big letters on the ballot unless we missed that. Don’t think it was well marked and not of all us read the inserts if that is where it was.

  2. All the more reason to drop them off at the nearest ballot drop box. For Arlington, Edmonds, Monroe, Mukilteo, Snohomish and Stanwood voters there’s one by each of the cities’ respective library. There’s one by the Bothell QFC. Everett voters can drop them off by the Courthouse campus.

  3. From one of the inserts: The first option for returning your ballot, clearly states to provide sufficient postage (.68 – one first class stamp and .22 additional postage or two first class stamps), put your ballot in the mail, and make sure it is postmarked before or on Election Day, November 8th.

  4. Some Washington ballots may require a second stamp to mail them. We talked to David Ammons from the Washington Secretary of State’s office to clear up any confusion about postage for Washington ballots. Here’s what he had to say:

    Ballots in Snohomish County, Whatcom County and Douglas County need 68 cents in postage because of their large envelopes. A regular first class stamp is worth 47 cents right now.
    All other counties in Washington require a single, first class stamp to mail ballots.
    Ammons says counties will not reject any ballots or send them back to the sender if they’re short on postage. If you’ve already sent your ballot with one stamp, it will still make it to its destination.
    The deadline for mailing in ballots in ALL counties is Nov. 8. Pierce County told voters to mail their ballots by Nov. 4 to encourage people to beat the deadline.
    Ammons says mailing ballots on the deadline is not a good idea because they may not get postmarked on that day. He says drop boxes are the sure way to get your vote counted and at no cost in postage.

    Note [copy and paste]: If you’ve already sent your ballot with one stamp, it will still make it to its destination

    https://knkx.org/post/3-washington-counties-youll-need-extra-stamp-vote

  5. Well I hope mine either went through or comes back to me as I merrilee completed on Monday and posted one first class stamp and drove to the Edmonds Post Office and sent it off not realizing it required additional postage.

  6. We did the same thing as commented by Craig Purfeerst. We mailed it on Monday at the Rdmonds post office in Perrinville. Our return address is on it. Hopefully it will reach its destination.

  7. Craig and Pat,
    From Donald Williams’ comment: “Ammons says counties will not reject any ballots or send them back to the sender if they’re short on postage. If you’ve already sent your ballot with one stamp, it will still make it to its destination.”

    Once I have filled out my ballot will drive down to the Edmonds Library and drop it off in the ballot collection box. No postage required! The box is located next to the small parking lot off of Dayton. The one where the book return boxes and mailbox are.

  8. My Edmonds News partner Seattle Times was very slow to come to press with this story – at least in regards to Snohomish County.

    The Everett Herald reported on September 22 that ballots without sufficient postage will indeed be counted. In a 3-2 vote, the Snohomish County Council voted to cover the cost, which according to the article would amount to $225,000 if 80% of the voters mailed their ballots with zero postage at all. That being the worst case scenario.

    You can search that paper for the September 22 article and ready why some of the Council voted for covering the postage, and why some voted against the idea.

    So rest assured your mailed in ballot will be counted no matter how much postage you included.

    Cheers!

    1. Thank you Scott. I just verified that my ballot and my husband’s ballot has been received in the auditor’s office.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.

By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.