As Washington’s 2024 General Election draws near, more than 1,980,509 voters have already returned their ballots, and state and county election officials are busy preparing for the vote count. Here’s a look at what Washington voters and the public can expect on election night and in the days following as ballots are processed and results are certified.
Election Day Reminders
In-person registration is available at county elections offices and voting centers until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5, although online and mailed registrations or updates were due by Oct. 28.
Voters have until 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 to place their ballot in one of more than 540 official drop boxes statewide. Drop box and voting center locations are listed on the Office of the Secretary of State’s Elections website or on VoteWA.gov, Washington’s online voter portal.
Once drop boxes close at 8 p.m. on election night, county election offices will begin tabulating ballots processed before Election Day. While counties may begin scanning ballots upon receipt, ballots cannot be tabulated until after 8 p.m. Election Day, according to RCW 29A.40.110. Initial results should appear on the state’s election results webpage — results.vote.wa.gov — by about 8:15-8:20 p.m. All reported results are unofficial until certification.
“The public can expect meaningful results on election night, but it’s important to remember that ballots arriving on or after Election Day still need to be processed and counted,” Assistant Secretary of State Kevin McMahan said. “Even if news outlets ‘call’ races or candidates declare victory, results are unofficial until they are certified by county canvassing boards and the Secretary of State. Our elections process ensures that every valid vote is counted accurately, underscoring the integrity of the election.”
On Election Day, elections staff are busy serving voters at voting centers and emptying drop boxes, so ballots received on Election Day, or after Election Day with a postmark of on or before Nov. 5, will be processed over subsequent days. To ensure accuracy, only ballots with verified signatures matching the voter’s registration record will be counted.
Following the initial release on election night, no further results will be reported until Nov. 6. Washington’s largest counties will post updated results daily, while counties with populations under 75,000 will report at least once every three days. Counties will announce their next upload date and time on the Voter Turnout tab at results.vote.wa.gov.
Continued Counting, Auditing, and Certification
Following Election Day, counties have 21 days to certify results. Within this certification period, ballots collected from drop boxes on election night or returned by mail with a valid postmark will be processed and counted per RCW 29A.40.110.
Within the certification period, all counties will conduct post-election audits to verify the accuracy of unofficial results. Counties can choose between a random batch audit or a risk-limiting audit (RLA) to fulfill this requirement.
In a random-batch audit, officials select specific batches of ballots and hand count them, comparing those hand-tallied results to the original machine-tabulated totals for the same batch. Alternatively, in an RLA, ballots are randomly selected and each ballot is compared to the voting system record until enough ballots have been reviewed to statistically confirm the results are correct. Washington’s first statewide RLA will take place Nov. 19.
Additionally, the Secretary of State will facilitate a statewide signature compliance check to verify that signature verification standards have been followed.
Election results will not be considered final until counties certify them on Nov. 26. The Secretary of State will complete certification of the 2024 General Election results by Dec. 5.
Ballot Curing Process
For ballots with a missing or mismatched signature, election officials will contact each voter by first-class mail, phone, email, or text message per RCW 29A.60.165 and they will have until county certification to correct any issues. Responding promptly to any notification from election officials helps ensure that every valid vote is counted.
Statewide Results
Each county will post a PDF copy of its results on its website and upload them to the state’s VoteWA portal, verifying that uploaded results match the official PDF copy. The Secretary of State’s Elections Division will conduct an additional review to ensure accuracy before posting statewide results. Due to this process, most counties will display results on their websites before the Office of the Secretary of State posts consolidated statewide results.
“Election officials are committed to providing the public with accurate and reliable results on election night, but accuracy can’t be rushed,” said McMahan. “Our processes are designed to ensure the integrity of the results displayed on the statewide results webpage. We thank voters for their patience and their participation in this historic election.”
Write-In Votes
Counties will report the total number of write-in votes in their tabulation reports. Election night results will include a single ‘write-in’ category. If the total write-in votes for an office exceed the apparent winner’s total, the write-in votes will be tallied during the 21-day certification period for each declared write-in candidate.
If a declared write-in candidate earns enough votes to win, their name will appear in the certified election results. If write-in totals are insufficient to impact the outcome, individual tallies will not be part of the official certification.
For more information or questions about ballot processing, voters can contact the Office of the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at (800) 448-4881 or [email protected].