OLYMPIA – People who want to register to vote and participate in the Nov. 3 General Election have until Monday, Oct. 26, to register online or by U.S. mail.
Online registration is available at VoteWA.gov, the state’s online voter portal. All that is required is a Washington state driver’s license or I.D. On VoteWA.gov, people can also change or update their registration, view a personalized voters’ guide (with information on candidates and measures specific to where they live), locate ballot drop boxes, voting centers, and elections offices, and track their marked ballot once it is in the system.
People may also visit the Secretary of State’s Elections website to print and fill out a voter registration form (available in 23 languages), and mail it to a county elections office. (Your local election official’s address is located at the bottom of the form.) Or, people can go online to request a form be mailed directly to them. Registration forms returned by mail must be received — not postmarked — by Oct. 26 in order for the voter to participate in the General Election.
“Washington’s more than 4.7 million voters have already received their ballots. I encourage all eligible Washingtonians who haven’t registered yet to visit VoteWA.gov and register now so they can participate in this election,” said Assistant Secretary of State Mark Neary.
After Oct. 26, people may register in person at a county elections office or voting center during normal business hours and as late as 8 p.m. on Election Day. However, Neary recommends people avoid registering at the last minute.
“Registering to vote in Washington is easy, and you have options,” he said. “The easiest way is online at VoteWA.gov. So avoid the long lines and wait times. Register online, and register today.”
More information is available at the Secretary of State’s website, sos.wa.gov, or by contacting a county elections office. Each office’s address, contact information, and hours of operation can be found at sos.wa.gov/elections/auditors.
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.