The Secretary of State’s office has alerted the U.S. Postal Service after elections officials in two Washington counties reportedly found uncounted ballots in out-of-service mailboxes.
Officials in Pierce and King counties discovered more than 100 uncounted ballots in “disused” mail collection boxes days after the Nov. 7 election, according to a memo sent out by the Secretary of State’s office last week. The ballots were delivered late to their respective county elections offices, where officials used the dates on the ballot envelopes to determine whether they were valid and could be counted.
“This is certainly a regrettable situation,” said Derrick Nunnally, spokesperson for the Washington Secretary of State’s office. “Secretary (Steve) Hobbs and the Postal Service will be working together to identify and implement solutions in time for next year’s election cycle.”
When the uncounted ballots were found, Hobbs asked in a letter to the postal service that the agency outline steps it is taking to prevent the mistake from happening again.
A postal service spokesperson confirmed receipt of Hobbs’ letter in an email and told The Spokesman-Review that the federal agency will respond