Get registered and track your ballot
You can check the status of your Washington voter’s registration at the state’s VoteWA portal. Voters can register up until 8 p.m. on Election Day, but Oct. 26 is the final day to register or update mailing information online. Postal officials recommend mailing your ballots (postage is free) by Oct. 27 to ensure an on-time postmark by Election Day. Procrastinators can still register to vote in person until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. More info here.
All ballots must be postmarked or returned to a dropbox by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Late ballots will not be counted.
In addition to mailing ballots, Whitman County also has six ballot drop boxes. Three new boxes have now opened in Pullman outside Dissmore’s IGA, at the Chinook (old Bookie) building at WSU and next to the previous drop box along Paradise Street in downtown Pullman. Other drop boxes can be found outside the Compton Union Building on campus and behind the county Election Center in Colfax.
Local ballots have already mailed out to voters. You can check your mailing information and check the status of your ballot by logging into your VoteWA account. Once you return your ballot, VoteWA can show you whether it was “accepted” for tabulation.
Here’s our story from 2018 about what happens to your ballot after it’s sent. You can also see our recent coverage about Whitman County’s history of election mix ups, but no mishaps have been reported so far on this year’s ballots.
VoteWA features some localized Voters Guide info. You can read the official statewide Voters Guide here. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters offers its local, state and national voting information here. The Pullman chapter has posted local candidate debate replays here.
COUNTY COMMISSIONER QUESTIONNAIRES
Whitman County Watch sent questionnaires on local issues to candidates for the county commission. We have also assembled links to candidate websites, campaign financial disclosures and other recent media coverage.
Commissioners serve four-year terms on the three-person board of county commissioners, which oversees the county government administration. Commissioners set county policy and approve department budgets, zoning changes and other decisions. The position will pay $74,430 next year.
Read the responses from both District 2 candidates and the uncontested District 1 commissioner below:
Art Swannack, County Commissioner (Dist. 1, incumbent/uncontested)
Tom Handy, County Commissioner (Dist. 2, challenger)
Dean Kinzer, County Commissioner (Dist. 2, incumbent)
LOCAL ISSUES
Check out a local sample ballot for the Nov. 3 election here. The sample ballot lists all the propositions and races in the county. Voters will only be able to vote on the measures or races that apply to the districts where they are registered.
One uncontested county Superior Court judge race also appears on the ballot.
The Steptoe and Lacrosse school districts both have replacement levies on the ballot for their residents. The Lacross levy would provide continued funding to modernize facilities. The Steptoe levy would replace an expiring levy for educational programs.
Colton, Endicott, Farmington, Garfield, Oakesdale, Rosalia and Tekoa all have propositions to fund street maintenance, park facilities, EMS responders or cemetery upkeep.