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WA Secretary of State debunks confusion over state’s vote-by-mail system
Story published 08/24/2026
Washington State Secretary of State Steve Hobbs shares important election reminders ahead of November. He’s also fighting to protect our state’s decades-old vote-by-mail system amid attacks on it by the President.
In the first installment of a 5-part series, we cut through voting disinformation to better arm you before hitting the ballot box.
Washington’s August Primary is over; the next big voting cycle is the general election.
While most state election information is common knowledge, there still may be some confusion. We want to help you get up to speed with crucial new information, such as changes to postmarking a ballot.
We tapped the state’s top election administrator, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, to ask two questions to get the facts about the state’s election system.
The first question: Is it still okay to vote by mail in Washington in the upcoming November 3rd election?
“Absolutely. But if you're about a week from the election, you should put it in a drop box, not a mailbox, because the USPS, they had some rulemaking about a year ago on when the postmark is made,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs says ballots have to be postmarked before 8 p.m. on that Tuesday. He says if you insist on wanting to mail your ballot or use the US Postal Service, the best thing to do, especially within that week, is to go directly to a postal clerk.
The second question: How secure are elections in all 39 counties in Washington?
“Very secure. And in fact, if you have any doubts, go visit your local elections center, contact your county auditor. Or if you're in King County Elections Director, they would love to have you in there [office] and actually see the elections go on. For with your own eyes, you can actually see the ballots going out, coming in, being opened. I highly encourage that,” he said.
All this week, we’ll have more from state officials about what you need to know about elections in the state.
