Voter mistake causes delay, but ballot was still counted

A Mason County resident who contacted the Journal about his uncounted March 12 presidential primary ballot says its now been tabulated.

Scott Gordon said the delay was because he mistakenly signed his wife’s return envelope.

“I appreciate everybody looking into it,” Gordon said in a voice message.

Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel’s investigation showed the ballot arrived at the elections department Feb. 21 and was counted in the results for the March 12 presidential primary.

When Gordon checked the status of his ballot through the Mason County elections website, he was “shocked” to see it had not been counted, he said.

The ballot was actually set aside for signature verification because his signature was on his wife’s return envelope.

“This is not uncommon; however, it takes time to complete the necessary reviews and reconcile everything,” Duenkel told the Journal in an email.

“Mr. Gordon’s ballot was processed in the final rounds of review and reconciliation on March 18, 2024, in preparation for certification. The good news is not only that Mr. Gordon’s ballot was counted, but his story provides an opportunity to illustrate the fidelity with which the Elections Team tracks and accounts for every single ballot and every single ballot envelope. I reminded Election Administrator Marie Stevenson about Mr. Gordon’s ballot story, and she was able to retrieve the envelop in less than 3 minutes. When we saw that name on the ballot envelope differed from Mr. Gordon’s signature, we immediately knew why it took the time it did for the ballot to show as ‘accepted’ in VoteWA. I let Mr. Gordon know right away,” Duenkel said.

Voters can the status of their ballot at votewa.gov.

Duenkel said if voters have questions or concerns after checking their ballot status, they should let the auditor’s office know right away.

Duenkel invited Gordon to stop by the next time he’s in Shelton.

“I will introduce him to the team, show him the envelope, and give him a tour of the Ballot Processing Room,” Duenkel said.