Voting In Washington

To be eligible to vote in Washington you must be:

• A resident of the state
• 18 years or older on Election Day
• A U.S. citizen
• A resident in the state, county, and precinct 30 days immediately preceding the election
• Not disqualified by a felony conviction or mental incompetence

ID is necessary to register. If you register by mail and do not have a Washington state driver's license, Washington state ID card, or a Social Security number, you will be required to provide one of the following items when you cast your ballot:

• Valid photo ID
• Valid tribal ID of a federally recognized Indian tribe in Washington state
• Copy of a current utility bill
• Current bank statement
• Copy of a current government check
• Copy of a current paycheck
• A government document that shows both your name and address

If you do not provide one of the above items either before or at the time of voting, your ballot will be treated as a provisional ballot.

Acceptable forms of ID for voting include:

• Photo ID, such as a driver's license, state ID card, student ID card, or tribal ID card
• Voter registration card
• Utility Bill
• Bank statement
• Paycheck
• Government check
• Other government document

A voter who does not have ID may vote a provisional ballot.

The in person voting registration deadline for the general election is 8 days before the election. Mail in registration must be postmarked 30 days before the election.

To verify your voter registration status, please use your state's voter verification tool.

You may choose to mark the box on the voter registration form to request an ongoing absentee ballot. You will receive a ballot by mail for each election in which you are eligible to vote. If you choose not to receive an absentee ballot automatically, and your county does not vote all by mail, you may either vote at the polls or request an absentee ballot for any given election.

If you decide at a later time you would like to receive a ballot by mail for each election, you may do so by written request to your county elections department. Absentee ballots have to be available in the county auditor's office 20 days prior to the election.

In addition, the county auditor's office must mail all ballots to voters 18 days prior to an election. Some counties may allow absentee ballots to be forwarded. However, you should contact your county elections department and notify them of a temporary change in your mailing address. You should also contact them when you return to the address where you are registered to vote. You should contact your county auditor's if you do not recieve your ballot

You do not have to return your ballot by mail. You may return your ballot to the county auditor's office or another ballot drop site designated by your county auditor. If your county has poll sites open on Election Day, you may return your mail ballot to a poll site. If you return your ballot by mail it should be standard postage rate but the county auditor will indicate specific instructions if the cost is more. If you need assistance, please contact your county auditor's office.

Your ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day and can be returned at a designated place by hand on Election day by 8:00 pm. Please remember to sign the oath on the envelope to have your ballot properly counted.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Early Voting is available. To find out how you can vote early, click here.

The next election is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010: Registration Deadline). Please check with your local board of elections office for information on local elections.

In order to be a poll worker in Washington:

• You will be entitled to compensation
• Political affiliation generally required
• You must be a resident of state and precinct for the 30 days prior to the election
• You must complete required training

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

King and Pierce counties only: 7am-8pm. All other counties vary.

Employers are required to schedule suffiecient paid time off to vote for each employee, unless employee has up to two hours outside of regualr working shift to vote (this does not include meal or rest breaks).

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Washington State Poll Locator Tool

A provisional ballot is a regular ballot issued to a person seeking to vote in a polling place under the following circumstances:

• Your name does not appear in the poll book
• Your name is in the poll back but there is an indication that you were issued an absentee ballot and you wish to vote at the polls
• You fail to produce identification when required
• Other circumstances as determined by the precinct election official

After the election you may contact your county elections department to confirm that your ballot was counted.

The voting systems used in Washington are optical scan and DRE.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

Federal law requires that every polling place have a voting system that is accessible to all individuals with disabilities. The law requires that the system provide individuals with disabilities the same opportunity to vote privately and independently as other voters. When possible, the county auditor must use polling places that are accessible to all voters. In instances where a polling place does not meet accessibility standards, additional assistance must be available. The accessibility standards include:

• Written notice to voters assigned to an inaccessible polling place explaining the factors that make the polling place inaccessible. This notice must be provided no later than 30 days prior to an election.
• Reassignment to an accessible polling place upon advance request from a voter assigned to an inaccessible polling place.
• A disabled parking space.
• Signs identifying an accessible route of travel to the polling place if different than the primary route.
• An unobstructed route of travel to the polling place.
• Level, firm, stable and slip-resistant surfaces.
• An unobstructed area for voting.
• At least one voting booth with a maximum height of 30 inches and a minimum knee clearance of 27 inches.
• Sufficient lighting along the accessible route of travel and within the polling place.

Please contact your county elections department to learn about multilingual services that may be available at your poll site. Assistance may be provided by a person of the voter's choice, or by two poll workers of opposite political parties. The toll-free TDD voter information hotline is 1-800-422-8683.

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit state's resource.