Stick a stamp on that ballot or it might not get counted
By Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News
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A Thurston County man has triumphed in his contention that he needn't put postage on his mail-in ballot.
It's not that he won his legal argument. An exasperated state elections staff member sent 86-year-old Walter DeMucha a stamp.
On the North Olympic Peninsula, county auditors say unstamped ballots are rare - but that they pay the postage due on the ballots.
"We wind up getting dinged for the 41 cents," said Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand.
"When we get them back as undeliverable, we have to pay. It's another expense to the taxpayers."
Most voters follow the law that says they must pay the postage on their ballots if they don't use drop boxes in Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend.
"The voters are either expected to drop them in a drop box or to pay that expense," said state Elections Director Nick Handy in the office of Secretary of State Sam Reed.
Few unstamped ballots
Rosand's office receives around 10 unstamped ballots each election.
In Port Townsend, Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge could recall only two postage-due ballots in the 12 years she has held office.
Besides breaking the law, voters who mail their ballots without stamps are gambling that the post office will deliver them before the deadline - 8 p.m. Nov. 6 in the current election.
Most voters don't put return addresses on their ballot envelopes, "so the post office doesn't know who sent that ballot in," said Rosand.
"The only place they can send it is to us, but they don't necessarily do it in a timely manner."
Because the unstamped ballots bear no postmarks, if they arrive at the auditor's office late, officials "have no way of determining when they were mailed," Rosand said.
"They gamble that the ballot won't be delivered in time to be counted."
Some voters waste stamps
The reverse of the unstamped ballot phenomenon also occurs, Rosand said - when people stick stamps on the ballots they put into drop boxes, not mailboxes, and waste the postage.
Although Jefferson County accepts postage-due ballots, "there is nothing in the statute that requires us to pay postage," Eldridge said.
If a ballot arrives after the deadline, Eldridge leaves it to the county canvassing board to decide to count it by examining the date on which the voter signed the ballot affidavit.
In the state capital, Handy said DeMucha had campaigned with repeated phone calls and e-mails against having to stamp his ballot.
"He really believes passionately this has a chilling effect on voting," Handy said.
One of his staff grew tired of the deluge of complaints, bought stamps and sent them to the Thurston County auditor, who in turn stamped a ballot envelope and gave it to DeMucha.
"It was actually out of the pocket of one of my staff," Handy said.
A familiar protest
DeMucha's stand against stamps was a familiar one, he added.
"Every year, we get one or two people out of the millions of voters who get excited that they have to put a stamp on their ballot," he said.
The postage-due ballots will be delivered and counted, he said.
As for the question of timeliness, "we've had conversations fairly high up in the post office.
"The post office takes the responsibility of delivering these ballots very seriously."
Handy was clear that the state expects voters to put postage on their mail-in ballots that account for 90 percent of votes cast across the state.
DeMucha and others like him should campaign to lawmakers, Handy said.
"If they want to change state policy on this, they should talk to their legislators," he said.
Postage a poll tax?
DeMucha has won at least one legislator to his cause.
According to the Associated Press, state Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, agreed that postage amounts to a poll tax.
Williams said county auditors should cover mail costs with the savings from going to all-mail-in voting.
But according to Rosand and Eldridge, it's not a big problem.
"Most people stamp the envelopes," said Rosand.
"It does not happen a lot," Eldridge agreed. "It happens on occasion."
As for DeMucha and Williams, Handy said he didn't think much of the issue.
"He's convinced at least one Thurston County legislator," he said, "but I don't think the legislation is going anywhere."
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: October 25. 2007 9:00PM