Elected officials in Washington state are sounding the alarm about an increase in uncounted ballots, especially in rural areas. Their warnings come as President Donald Trump ramps up his fight against vote-by-mail states.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, teamed up Wednesday to announce that significantly more mail-in ballots were disqualified as “late” in the August primary election than in prior elections.
That uptick, they said, was a result of changes to U.S. Postal Service postmarking protocols the agency implemented last December.
Across the state, the rate of ballots that were rejected for late postmarks increased by 32% in the August primary, as compared to the August 2024 primary, according to data released by Hobbs and Cantwell’s offices. Rates of rejection were higher in rural counties, per the report.
“The post office is taking your ballot as a piece of mail but not stamping it that day,” Cantwell said. “They are waiting and going to a distribution center, and then later postmarking that and may thereby be delaying your actual vote.”
Cantwell advised voters to mail their ballots as early as possible, or use county-provided drop boxes for the upcoming November election. Voters who mail their ballots even several days in advance of Election Day may experience delays in postmarking and risk a ballot being disqualified, according to the report.
The biggest increases in disqualified ballots were concentrated in more rural regions, like Mason and Stevens counties. In those areas, the rate of ballots disqualified as late quadrupled from the past election year. In 17 other counties, like Yakima, Okanogan, and Franklin, the rate of rejected ballots doubled.
The rate of late ballots decreased in a handful of more urban counties, including King, Pierce, Spokane, and Clark.
King County, for one, added new drop boxes during the primary election, amid uncertainty over how Trump’s orders might affect voting at the time. Across the state, a majority of voters now use drop boxes to vote, instead of relying on the Postal Service.
These postmarking changes are separate from more recent attempts to overhaul mail-in voting processes at USPS. A March executive order from the president would require states to hand over voter rolls to the federal government before USPS could send out ballots. That change has yet to be applied while the issue is tied up in the courts. Half the states in the country, including Washington, have sued the Postal Service to fight Trump’s changes to mail-in voting — it’s unclear whether the issue will affect November elections.
Trump has claimed without evidence that voter fraud is widespread and mail-in ballots “are inherently corrupt.” Around 5 million people vote by mail in Washington, making it one of the states with the highest rates of vote-by-mail participation.
CNN reported this week the U.S. Department Homeland Security plans to increase investigations into alleged voter fraud in nine states, including Washington, in the runup to November elections.
Washington officials have pushed back, saying there is little evidence of voter fraud in the state.
“Incidents of voter fraud are incredibly rare,” Hobbs said in a statement. “In Washington state, there were just five cases between 2008 and 2025, out of 90 million ballots cast during that time.”
State Attorney General Nick Brown, also a Democrat, has said he isn’t concerned about the Homeland Security investigation.
“Washington state’s elections are secure, thanks to the work of state and local leaders across the ideological spectrum,” Brown said in a statement.
