Mail-In Ballot Technology Used in Washington State Primary

With Mail-in voting on the rise on the West Coast, election officials in 15 Washington State counties will be using specialized technology to keep track of the nearly 1 million ballots and envelops in today's primary election. After a successful 2005 pilot program in over 20 elections, the State of Washington purchased Mail-in Ballot Tracker (MiBT) from VoteHere for all 39 counties statewide. MiBT provides crucial accounting features for election officials to continuously reconcile their ballots and envelopes, ensuring that every ballot is accounted for.

The idea for MiBT was born out of the closest gubernatorial race in US history where only 133 votes separated the two candidates. From nearly 3 million votes cast, the majority of those votes were mail-in ballots. Controversy struck when it was discovered that a small percentage of ballots could not be fully reconciled.

For this first phase of the statewide roll-out, 15 counties are using MiBT in today's Washington State Primary. "The Mail-in Ballot Tracker has significantly helped us account for every mail-in ballot in Thurston County. By automating our process, we are further assured that the sanctity of every ballot is protected," said Thurston County Auditor, Kim Wyman.

The rate of mail-in voting has risen with Washington State voting 90% by mail, California voting 40% by mail, and Oregon voting 100% by mail. Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature authorized counties to switch to voting exclusively by mail. This legislation encourages the use of ballot tracking audit technology to "determine if mail ballots were received and counted."