How to digitally track your ballot

Election season is upon us, which means if you’re a registered voter in Whatcom County, you’ve already received your ballot in the mail. (If you haven’t received it, contact the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office to get a replacement ballot.)

Washington voters can visit votewa.gov to track their ballot, as well as to check registration status and to see what’s on the ballot. All you need is your full name and birth date to find the information.

Once logged in, you should see your registration status (online registration closed October 26, it can be done in person at the county auditor’s office at 311 Grand Avenue, in Bellingham, until Election Day) and the county where you’re registered to vote. Select “menu” on the top left corner and a drop-down box will appear where you can see your ballot status. The status will show what day the ballot was sent. Note that it takes 3-4 days after returning a ballot for its status to be updated as “returned” online. Other items such as a voters’ guide, drop box locations and voting history are also available in the drop-down box.

Voters can also see if their ballot is rejected at votewa.gov. The website votewashington.info is not an official site from the Secretary of State or county election partners, according to an October 27 Whatcom County Auditor’s Office press release.

If a ballot envelope is challenged, the county auditor’s office will contact the voter. The auditor’s office will send voters with ballots rejected because of their signature a letter and call them after Election Day. Voters can have their ballot counted until Friday, November 23.

To learn more on how ballots are counted and view a livestream of ballot processing, visit co.whatcom.wa.us/3490/ballot-processing-live-webcam. For questions about the election, call the county auditor’s office at 360/778-5102 or email elections@co.whatcom.wa.us.