Washingtonians have been voting by mail for over a decade and voter turnout in Washington routinely is among the highest in the country. Despite the success of vote-by-mail, a research study by the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington examined why ballots are rejected to improve the voter experience and inform efforts by state and county leaders to continue to reduce the number of ballots rejected in any election.
The Evans Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) worked alongside the Secretary of State’s Office to explore ballot signature verification practices along with investigating individual voters’ understanding and communication around the signature verification process, and education and outreach methods. Through an analysis of voter- and county-level ballot data from the past 10 years of primary and general elections along with engagements, interviews, and surveys of county elections staff, individual voters, and community organizations, and the added help of a project advisory board, several key findings about voters’ experiences with vote-by-mail in Washington emerged –
Between 2012 and 2022, Washington State voters cast nearly 45 million ballots in primary and general elections. Annually, 25,000 to 35,000 ballots are rejected, primarily due to late arrival, and some for missing or mismatched signatures (0.5 to 0.6% of all ballots). There is evidence that voters of color often have higher ballot rejection rates than White voters. Voters of color, such as Hispanic and Asian voters, faced rejection rates double that of White voters in the 2020 General Election. Black voters experienced rejection rates 50% higher than White voters. Male-identifying voters and younger voters also had higher rejection rates, with nearly 5% of ballots from voters aged 18-25 being rejected in the 2022 general election. About 60% of ballots with signature issues have been corrected before final results are submitted since 2020.
NOVA and Northwest Public Broadcasting, launching a series on the significance and impact of data grabbed onto the importance of this work, particularly around the methods researchers employed to estimate race. Since Washington State does not collect racial data alongside voter registration, the study had to impute race to understand racial trends. While estimating race is not perfect, it is critical that we look at data to better understand how our systems, like electoral systems, impact and serve all people. All Washington voters should feel empowered and knowledgeable to vote.
The study concluded with a number of recommendations to improve the voter experience in Washington State and hopefully improve ballot rejection rates, including creating a universal ballot envelope design for all Washington counties, forging a stronger role and relationships with community-based organizations, encouraging increased opportunities for voters to update their signature on record, pursuing evaluation of innovative practices like text messaging and automatic signature verification, as well as plenty of opportunities for future research.
