Washington's Mail-In Voting Could Collapse This November, How to Prepare Now

Washington State has operated mail-in voting for over a decade. The entire system is now at risk of disruption or collapse.

Ethan Grant Executive Director
Photography Ethan Grant
Published · August 27, 2026
Ballot Drop Box at Snohomish County Campus

Under a March executive order from President Trump, state election offices are required to submit voter data through a new USPS system and switch to federally mandated ballot envelope designs before the Postal Service will accept ballots for mailing at all, coming or going.

In June, USPS Postmaster General David Steiner admitted under oath that the Postal Service plans to withhold ballots from any state that refuses to hand voter information over to the federal government. Steiner confirmed USPS would neither send ballots to residents nor collect and deliver them to state election officials.

"There is nothing hypothetical about his intent to illegally suppress legitimate votes." - Washington Attorney General Nick Brown

Two separate federal court injunctions had been blocking this rule from taking effect, but both failed this week after the Supreme Court issued an order to dismiss plaintiffs. Twenty-five states, including Washington, sued within hours, but the outcome of those lawsuits is unpredictable. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research said the administration's actions will, "create complete chaos leading up to the midterm elections".

Washington State Response

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said yesterday that Washington's counties would need to replace roughly five million ballot envelopes to comply with the new federal mandate, at the state's expense, and called doing so "impossible" in the time remaining before the election. His office is now investigating whether more drop boxes can be added statewide. Our own analysis of the August primary found a ballot returned by mail was almost twelve times more likely to be rejected than one placed in a drop box.

Everett Drop Box Locations

- Snohomish County Elections Office, 3000 Rockefeller Ave (walk-in, first floor)
- Everett Courthouse Campus, Rockefeller Ave and Wall St
- Everett Community College, 1001 North Broadway (drive-up)
- Everett Mall, 1402 SE Everett Mall Way (drive-up)
- Evergreen Branch Library, 9512 Evergreen Way (drive-up)
- McCollum Park and Ride, 600 128th St SE (drive-up)

Prepare to Vote in Person

If USPS refuses to send ballots to residents this November, voters may be forced to show up in person to vote. Here's our checklist to prepare for multiple possibilities.

Register to Vote. Washington allows same-day registration in person through 8pm on Election Day at the Snohomish County Auditor's Office in Everett. Learn more at snohomishcountywa.gov or call 425-388-3444.

Check Your Address. If you've moved and haven't updated your voter registration, and if ballots are mailed this year, it could be sent to your old address. Update it at votewa.gov or at the Snohomish County Auditor's Office, 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Admin West Building, open weekdays 9am to 5pm. Email elections@snoco.gov with questions.

Update Your License or ID. If you end up voting in person, you may be asked to show photo identification, and if the address on it is outdated, that's one more thing that could slow you down or cause a problem at the polling site. Update your address at dol.wa.gov - in most cases, you don't need to visit an office in person to change an address.

Download the Voters' Guide. If the USPS also refuses to deliver the Voters' Guide, download it from sos.wa.gov when it's published in October. On election day, voters don't need to memorize their candidate choices; Washington State allows voters to bring notes or a printed voter guide into the voting booth.

Where to Vote in Person

The Snohomish County Auditor's Office at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue offers full in-person voting services year-round, including accessible voting equipment, replacement ballots, and same-day registration. Additional locations are expected to open in November, but haven't been published yet; check snoco.gov/elections in October.

None of this is settled. The lawsuits filed yesterday could block the USPS rule changes entirely, and Washington's own network of drop boxes is already well established. But the state's own election chief says it can't make the necessary changes in time, and state agencies may need to rapidly pivot to in-person voting. Whatever happens next, voters are urged to plan for disruption.