General Election Ballots Being Mailed This Week in NCW

Ballots for next month’s general election will be mailed out to voters in Chelan and Douglas Counties this week.

Douglas County Auditor, Thad Duvall, says voters in his jurisdiction will notice a different look to their ballot this year.

“We do have a difference in the way the ballot packet will look. We’ve wrapped the ballot with all the information than a voter needs. Voters will also no longer have to tear off a strip at the top of the ballot. And we’ve also included an ‘I Voted’ sticker as well.”

Both Duvall and his counterpart across the Columbia River, Chelan County Auditor Skip Moore, say questions about election security concerns continue to come in to their respective offices.

Both auditors say those calls are proving to be an opportunity to educate voters about security measures that have been in place for many years.

“We always try and let people know that mailed ballots are as secure as poll site ballots. Because the signature we have on file is manually checked against every envelope that’s returned. This ensures that no one is able to vote twice or if someone has returned a ballot for another voter, we try to catch it and most of the time we do catch it.”

Almost 51,000 registered voters will be mailed a ballot in Chelan County, while over 25,000 will be sent in Douglas County.

Duvall is hoping to see a 60 to 70 percent voter return in Douglas County, while Moore is optimistic that as many as 75 percent of Chelan County voters will return their ballots.