King County Ballots Will Be Free To Mail In 2018

SEATTLE, WA - Now there's almost no reason not to vote. The King County Council on Monday approved a measure that will pay postage for mail-in ballots for the 2018 primary and general elections.

The Council was set to vote on the measure, sponsored by Dave Upthegrove, last Monday, but Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican, asked the Council to postpone the vote. Wyman told the Council she wants the whole state to go postage-free at once rather than county-by-county.

Two of the more Republican-leaning members of the nonpartisan Council, Kathy Lambert and Reagan Dunn, were the only two "no" votes on the measure.

A stamp only costs 50 cents, but that's might be a high enough barrier for some voters. In early 2017, the county experimented with prepaid ballots, seeing a 74 percent turnout compared to the normal 43 percent for a special election.

The county will spend about $381,000 to pay for postage, but might save money. When a voter mails a ballot without a stamp, the U.S. Postal Service will sometimes deliver the ballot and charge the county $1.70 - more than triple the cost of a stamp.

There are almost 50 ballot drop boxes around the county, but some cities only have one box, including Shoreline, Woodinville, and Sammamish.

“Voting is the foundation of our democracy. By eliminating the postage ‘poll tax,' King County is taking an important step to dismantle a barrier that keeps some from exercising their right to vote,” said Councilmember Rod Dembowski.

Image courtesy King County Elections