OLYMPIA, Wash. — After more than 100 ballots were found after election day in mailboxes considered out of service, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said it is taking steps to prevent a repeat during the 2024 elections.
In a letter to the USPS, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called the discovery of 141 ballots “unsettling” and potentially disenfranchising for voters.
The Secretary of State’s Office said four counties received ballots not collected in mailboxes.
Elections officials identified 87 ballots from out-of-service mailboxes in King County, and 37 were found in Pierce County. Clark County’s auditor said their office received 13 last week and two were identified in Thurston County.
All but one of those ballots were added to the Nov. 7 election results because they had signatures and were dated prior to the election.
Election officials said none of the votes were enough to change any race outcomes.
"Every Washington voter needs to be able to trust that a mailed ballot is a voted ballot,” Hobbs, D-Washington, wrote in a Nov. 16 letter to the USPS. "It is unacceptable that voted ballots placed in USPS receptacles went undelivered for so long."
Postal Service spokesperson Kim Frum said the office responded to Hobbs’ letter.
“The response letter cited the prevention steps already underway to promptly remove out-of-service collection boxes while maintaining collection up until their removal,” Frum said.
“I feel confident, but I know that doesn't give confidence to some voters out there,” Hobbs said. ”They're going to remove all those boxes that are malfunctioning, or they're having problems with.”
Hobbs said the Postal Service said in one instance a mail carrier did not have the ability to access the mail in a newly installed mailbox.
Frum said she was not able to confirm that.
Hobbs said alert voters who checked the status of their ballots alerted the state about the issue when they learned their ballots had not been received.