Auditor says hundreds of Eastern WA ballots never made it to voters

WHITMAN COUNTY, Wash. — Some voters in Whitman County are still waiting for their ballots for the upcoming election.

Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison tells the Spokesman-Review that somewhere between 200 to 300 went missing after being processed by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in Spokane.

So, what happened? The post office isn’t sure but is now investigating.

Like most counties in Washington, Whitman has a third-party vendor that inserts the ballots into envelopes and drives them to a main processing facility.

According to the auditor’s office, the ballots made it to the facility, were processed on Oct. 16, and successfully scanned into the USPS system. From there, no one can seem to pinpoint what happened.

“Rest assured that I am diligently investigating this matter,” Jamison said in a news release. “My goal is to make sure that every Whitman County registered voter receives a ballot and has the opportunity to participate in this election.”

Jamison says she has escalated the issue to the highest level of Washington State’s USPS administration, which is retracting the route the ballots took.

If you live in Whitman County and have not received your ballot, you can call the office at 509-397-5284 between the hours of 8 am and 4:30 pm to request one. Additionally, you can print out a replacement ballot by signing into VoteWA.gov.

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