With today marking the last day to register to vote online, procrastinators can still register in person until 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 at the county Elections Center in Colfax. A student voting assistance center will also provide registration and ballot submission services on campus on Election Day.
(If you’re reading this on Oct. 26, you can still register online at the state’s VoteWA portal. You can also confirm your mailing address and, if you’ve returned your ballot, check its status to see if it has been accepted for tabulation. Find more voting information and resources in our Fall 2020 Voters Guide.)
County Auditor Sandy Jamison wrote in an email today that election staff will be available for in-person registrations from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday until Nov. 3 at the Elections Center at 304 N. Main Street in Colfax. The office will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
A student voting center will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 in the second-floor Junior Ballroom of the CUB on campus. Officials can help with registrations, printing ballots and other questions.
“Both locations will be practicing COVID-19 safety and security measures,” Jamison wrote. “Masks will be required, as will the 6 foot social distancing rule.”
While open for registrations and ballot assistance, Jamison recommended voters otherwise fill out their ballots at home and put them in the mail or a local drop box instead of filling out ballots at the Elections Center.
“I am really trying to limit the amount of people that actually need to come into either site in person,” she wrote. “It will be much safer, COVID wise, if I don’t have a large number of people at our sites at any one time.”
A staffed ballot deposit site will also be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day at the Pullman Recreation Center at the new Pullman City Hall on Crestview Street. This site will offer ballot printing and a secure drop box, but will not process new voter registrations.
Whitman County offers six physical ballot drop boxes, including three new boxes added this month in Pullman. Find all those locations and other election information here.
The county was one of three counties to sue the state seeking reimbursements for the costs of installing additional ballot drop boxes. Read our recent coverage of that lawsuit here.
A King County judge ruled in favor of the counties last week.
The Washington Secretary of State reports 41 percent of Whitman County voters had already returned their ballots. You can find those daily updates on voter turnout here.
Find other statewide information on voting here. Secretary of State Kim Wyman hosted a public discussion of statewide election security measures this morning. Watch a replay of that meeting here and below.