“Some states use ‘drop boxes’ for the collection of Universal Mail-In Ballots, ” Trump tweeted recently. “So who is going to ‘collect’ the Ballots, and what might be done to them prior to tabulation? A Rigged Election? So bad for our Country. Only Absentee Ballots acceptable!”
It turns out, Washington state has laws in place to prevent that. And the state, which has been all-vote-by-mail since 2011, has a decade of experience with ballot boxes that counters the president’s claims.
Washington’s top elections official, Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman, said Monday she knows of no incidents where ballot drop boxes have been tampered with or the ballots inside altered.
General Election Voter Pamphlet By Pierce County
This ballot drop box in Pierce County is an example of one of the quarter-inch thick steel ballot drop boxes that local elections officials commissioned and designed with security in mind. CREDIT: Melissa Santos/Crosscut
“Washington’s experience is that they are very secure, ” Wyman said. “We haven’t had any issues with lost ballots or fraud — and our voters love them. I don’t share the president’s concerns about ballot drop box fraud.”
Nationwide, the focus on ballot drop boxes has increased amid fears that cost-cutting measures at the U.S. Postal Service could hamper mail-in voting. On Tuesday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced a lawsuit challenging recent postal service operational changes that he said could undermine the November election. Also Tuesday, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he would pause some mail-system changes until after the election.
Voting In Pierce County
In Washington state, more than half of voters in the Aug. 4 primary election used drop boxes to return their ballots, according to Wyman’s office. There are about 450 boxes statewide.
State law requires two people to be present any time ballot boxes are emptied, to ensure there are witnesses to the process. Those people must log the date and time they remove ballots, along with their names, so there is a record of who handled the ballots should anything turn up amiss.
The workers transporting the ballots aren’t volunteers, either. Five county election officials who spoke with Crosscut Tuesday said they use only trained county election employees to transport ballots. Those people have to sign an oath that they will uphold the integrity of the election process.
Ballot Drop Boxes
“The people who are doing this are sworn election workers — they take an oath before every election to perform their duties and comply with the law, ” said Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire. “These aren’t just people we pick up off the street. Most of the people who have been doing this have been doing this for years and years in our office. They are people we trust.”
Every time a ballot drop box is unlocked and emptied, a tamper-evident seal is placed on the access door. That means that when election workers return to the ballot box, they will be able to see if someone opened it and accessed the ballots without permission.
Ballots are then moved from the drop box to the counting facility in another secure container, which also is closed using a numeric seal.
Where Can I Drop Off My Ballot?
Once the secure container of ballots reaches the tabulation center, the number on the seal is checked against the paperwork that was filled out when the box was emptied. State law requires that a second copy of the paperwork be kept inside the container, for added verification.
Pierce County, the state’s second most populous, issues county-owned phones to election workers and tracks them via a GPS system as they travel between ballot boxes.
“They are given very clear driving directions, and they cannot deviate” from that route, said Julie Anderson, Pierce County auditor since 2009. She said that means even if someone made an unauthorized stop at 7-11 to use the restroom, county officials would know.
Washington State Election Ballot Hi Res Stock Photography And Images
Ballots are processed at the King County Elections headquarters in Renton for Washington state’s presidential primary election on March 10, 2020. Elections workers were required to wear gloves at the time to due to COVID-19, but that was well before masks were in use in non-medical settings. CREDIT: Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut
The same electronic system in Pierce County lets election workers upload information about dropoffs and pickups in real time, so that the auditor’s office can monitor the status of drop boxes remotely, Anderson said.
During ballot pickups, Pierce County election workers take photos of the empty ballot boxes and upload them as proof that all ballots were removed and none were left behind. King County election workers follow a similar procedure.
Pierce County Correcting Mistake For Absentee Voters Who Received Flawed Ballots
Julie Wise, King County’s elections director, said the state’s systems for tracking ballots also ensure that fraudulent ballots can’t be fabricated and stuffed in drop boxes to sway an election.
Each ballot envelope has a unique identifier associated with each voter, which ensures that elections officials only count one ballot per person — even if someone were to put multiple ballots in a drop box, or try to flood a drop box with fake ballots, she said.
Meddling with ballots to achieve a political end would also be difficult, since it’s impossible to tell how a person voted from the outside of a ballot envelope, said Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall.
Dire Warnings Don't Keep Peninsula Voters From Drop Boxes
Yakima County Auditor Charles Ross said people are invited to come learn election procedures and observe the process of opening ballot boxes to ensure everything is done properly.
“Any person can witness, go with us, meet us at a location, ” Ross said. “We crave observation, we love when people come observe it.”
Anderson said trained observers from the political parties are often present when drop boxes are emptied in Pierce County, “to make sure nothing is happening.”
What Happens To My Ballot After I Drop It Off? Behind The Scenes As Voting Pace Accelerates
Ballot boxes vary in size and weight, but many are several hundred pounds, or even 1, 000 pounds. They are also typically bolted into the ground, so they can’t just be picked up and carried away.
Even things that seem like they would compromise a ballot box often don’t. A Thurston County ballot box wasn’t significantly damaged last year when it was hit by an SUV.
And in King County, a collision with a school bus failed to destroy a ballot box a few years back, Wise said.
Voter Turnout Already Approaching 40 Percent On Peninsula
Crosscut is working to get you the information you need to cast your ballot this November. If you have questions about Washington state candidates and issues, submit them here. If you’re wondering about the process of voting, you can direct those questions here.
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Pierce County, Washington is the second largest county in the state. Pierce County covers 1, 679 square miles from sea level to the top of Mt. Rainier at 14, 411 ft. The county’s residents live on islands, in cities, and at the base of the mountain. The Pierce County seat is Tacoma.
The Pierce County Auditor’s office serves the county’s over 440, 000 registered voters. The office has 13 full-time staff and approximately 250 part-time election workers who perform ballot pick-up, ballot processing, and voting center duties. They have 29, going on 30, drop boxes located throughout the county. In 2014 the Pierce County Auditor was recognized with the Election Center Guardian Award for their team’s successful ballot drop box program.
Since becoming an all vote-by-mail jurisdiction in 2011, Pierce County has seen a significant increase in the number of ballots deposited at their ballot drop boxes. In the 2014 General Election, 118, 971 of the 220, 827 Pierce County ballots cast, or 53.9%, were returned at a drop box.
Primary Election Voters' Pamphlet By Pierce County
Why are drop boxes so popular? Voters like convenient choices. Pierce County voters can mail their ballot, drop their ballot at a drop box, or vote in-person at one of the four Voting Centers. Voters enjoy the advantages of drop boxes, which are open 24/7 and do not require a stamp.
Through their experience Pierce County learned that small drop boxes, which can fill up quickly, are problematic. By investing in larger boxes, the program can continue to grow in popularity. To prevent a fire from destroying ballots inside the drop box, each box is outfitted with fire suppression canisters. Before installation, the Auditor asked a local fire department to test ballot drop boxes, with and without the fire suppression, using a variety of combustion and fire starters. The boxes were found to be very fire resistant, due to tight, heavy construction that limited air circulation.
Pierce County uses graphic decals featuring quotes that inspire civic participation. They held contests at high schools closest to each drop box. Students were invited to submit their ideas. The winners saw their quote revealed, and local papers published news releases to honor
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