What is and isn’t a vote? That is the question…

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What is – and isn’t – a vote in Washington? What happens if a voter incorrectly marks a ballot ... is that vote lost? To tackle these questions, our Elections Division recently released “Statewide Standards on What is a Vote,” a guide to a voter's intent. The manual covers in what circumstance a vote is counted or not, in the event a voter didn't follow the directions exactly (a common scenario). But there are other more unusual scenarios that are addressed, like when a ballot is covered in writing that says "I vote for me!" or "Dear Election People: Thank you for the ballot but I prefer not to vote this time." What to do then? The latest version of the guide can be found here ... it's a good reminder that it's best to pay attention to the directions and just mark that ballot right the first time!