Voting bloopers caused election officials to reject hundreds of ballots this fall

Voters use a drive-up collection box to cast their ballot Nov. 4, 2013 in downtown Vancouver, Wash.

Voters use a drive-up collection box to cast their ballot Nov. 4, 2013 in downtown Vancouver, Wash.

Clark County’s low voter turnout of 37.62 percent in the 2013 general election could have been just a little bit better, if voters paid more attention when they were sending in their ballots.

Although about 93,000 civic-minded residents took the time to cast a ballot in Clark County, more than 900 ballots weren’t counted because voters didn’t follow election rules. Here’s a breakdown of the most common reasons Clark County officials rejected ballots this fall:

  • 393 ballots were postmarked after Election Day, Nov. 5.
  • Signatures on 241 affidavit envelopes didn’t match the signature officials have on file. Officials contacted these voters to verify their identity, but the voters did not respond.
  • 175 voters didn’t sign the affidavit envelope at all, and didn’t respond when contacted by elections officials.
  • Believe it or not, 18 voters returned a ballot from a previous election.
  • 27 voters printed their names on the affidavit envelope instead of signing it, so it didn’t match the signature on file. They also didn’t respond when contacted by officials.
  • 14 voters put their ballots in a drop-box, but they forgot to place their ballots in the affidavit envelope first.
  • One voter was issued a ballot before moving, then got another ballot after the move. The voter returned two ballots, but only one was counted. Voting machines caught the mistake.
Stevie Mathieu

Stevie Mathieu

Stevie Mathieu is a political writer at The Columbian. Contact her at 360-735-4523 or stevie.mathieu@columbian.com or www.facebook.com/reportermathieu or www.twitter.com/col_politics.

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