Vote by mail means that all eligible voters will receive their ballot by mail prior to the election. Once the ballot is completed, voters can return their ballot by mail (no postage required) or at a ballot drop box (no postage required). Accessible Voting Units are also available 20 days prior to any election for voters with disabilities.

Receiving your voting materials

  • A Voters' Pamphlet will be mailed to you prior to each Election.
  • The Online Voters' Pamphlet is available for every Election. Visit the Current Election to view the Online Voters Guide.
  • A ballot will be mailed to you at least 18 days prior to any election that you're eligible to vote in.
  • You'll also receive a security envelope and a return envelope. Follow the instructions included in the packet to ensure there are no delays in processing your ballot.

Returning your completed ballot

Follow the instructions included in the packet to ensure there are no delays in processing your ballot.

  • Don't forget to sign the Voter Declaration on the outside of the return envelope.
  • Your ballot can be returned at anytime but the deadline is 8 PM on Election Day.
  • Ballot drop box locations close at 8 PM on Election Day. Visit the Current Election page to find the list of drop box locations that are open for the current election.
  • If you choose to mail your ballot, the USPS recommends domestic voters mail their ballots at least one week before Election Day to allow sufficient processing time.  While the USPS tries to postmark all ballot envelopes, postmark dates may not match mailing dates due to processing delays.  To guarantee your ballot receives an accurate postmark, you may have it hand canceled at a Post Office retail counter free of charge.  
  • You can check your ballot status on VoteWA.gov.

Follow the election results

Unofficial election results will be posted by 8:15 PM on Election Day. Regular updates will be published following Election Day as more ballots are processed from the ballot drop boxes and received by mail.

To view the current election results, go to the Current Election page. Historical election results can be found on our Previous Elections Results page.