On West Coast, election results require patience
Mailed ballots can delay outcome in many cases
OLYMPIA, Wash. — If control of the U.S. House comes down to any of the competitive congressional races in Washington state and California, the nation might have to wait days to learn the outcome.
In both of those states, voters can put their ballots in the mail as late as Election Day, meaning the final votes do not typically reach election officials until several days later.
“I could see a scenario where we’re waiting a week or so to get results,” said Todd Donovan, a political science professor at Western Washington University. “The unfortunate thing is, you take longer and people are going to think something wrong is going on, when in fact, when you take longer, you’re more likely to have more accurate results.”
Washington is one of three states that conduct all elections by mail, and it’s the only one of those three that allows ballots to be postmarked on Election Day. The system usually leaves about half of the vote outstanding, making it impossible to quickly determine the winner of close races.
In California, which has more than half a dozen competitive races in Gopheld districts, voters have the option of balloting by mail. Those ballots too must be postmarked by Election Day and received no later than three days after that. In past elections, some state races have not been called for days.
Ballots in Washington state will be mailed to voters next week. Three of the state’s 10 U.S. House races are being watched nationally as Democrats eye potential gains that could determine control of the chamber. The party needs a net gain of 23 seats nationwide to win back the House.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 37 states and the District of Columbia offer some type of early voting, and 27 states and D.C. offer “no-excuse” absentee voting.
While more than 20 states allow certain elections to be held by mail, only Washington, Oregon and Colorado conduct all elections by mail. Colorado and Oregon both require that ballots be received by elections officials no later than Election Day in order to be counted.
Julie Wise, elections director of King County in Washington, said her staff is ready for a busy week.
“There’s no system that is perfect, but vote-by-mail is the strongest type of election system in the country,” she said. “We have a paper trail for everything.”