PORT TOWNSEND — A Port Townsend woman who sent in two ballots for the Nov. 8 general election will not face criminal charges, said Jefferson County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Alvarez.
Because of a printing error, 508 Port Townsend ballots were printed with incorrect ZIP codes and mailed.
Only 424 of those ballots were returned to the Auditor’s Office as undeliverable, which left 84 that were delivered — some to incorrect addresses.
The woman accused of sending in two ballots received a ballot at her home and one that had someone else’s name printed on it at her post office box, said Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge.
The woman voted, signed both ballots and sent them in, Eldridge said.
Signatures did not match
The Auditor’s Office ensures each voter can only vote once by comparing signatures, which is how the incident came to Eldridge’s attention, she said.
“The ballot owner was not who signed because we verify every signature,” said Eldridge.
Ballot issues are referred to the county Canvassing Board that consists of Eldridge, Alvarez and Phil Johnson, chairman of the Board of Commissioners.
Alvarez wrote the woman a letter informing her that she could face up to five years in prison if convicted of voting twice.
Once Eldridge and Alvarez talked to the woman and discovered there was no intent, which has to be proven for a conviction, the decision was made not to prosecute, said Alvarez.