Ballot processing continues as certification approaches

EPHRATA — Election officials in Grant and Adams counties are nearing the finish line of the 2026 general election, with certification scheduled for Nov. 24 and most ballots already processed.

According to the Washington Secretary of State's latest election data as of Nov. 9, Grant County had an estimated 1,800 ballots left to count, while Adams County had approximately 200 ballots remaining.

In Grant County, 29,070 ballots were returned, resulting in a turnout rate of 54.7%, according to Grant County Elections Coordinator Rebecca Pettingill. While slightly below the county's final turnout of 57.34% in the 2022 general election, Pettingill said the numbers are largely in line with expectations.

“I would say it's pretty average,” Pettingill said. “It's looking pretty good.”

Pettingill said turnout remains higher than some recent election cycles and reflects continued participation from county voters.

“We have more active voters in this election than four years ago, so that's always a plus,” she said. “For the most part, this isn't really that shocking for Grant County.”

Although the Secretary of State estimated about 1,800 ballots remained to be counted, Pettingill explained that the vast majority had already been received and signature verified.

“We've already gone through all of the trays of ballots we had to signature-verify,” she said. “We still have probably 2,000 that have been signature-verified that haven't been run through our counter yet because they still have to be opened and then run through the tabulator.”

Of the ballots received in Grant County, 28,558 had been accepted as of Monday, while several hundred remained challenged.

One of the largest remaining tasks for election staff is working through challenged ballots. Pettingill said many challenges involve voters who either forgot to sign their ballot envelope or printed their name instead of providing a legal signature.

“If they're challenged because their signature does not match, they can call us and verify either the last four of their Social Security number or their driver's license number,” Pettingill said.

Voters whose ballot was rejected because of a missing signature must complete a signature correction form before their ballot can be counted. Challenged ballots can be cured until 5 p.m. Nov. 23, the day before certification.

Pettingill encouraged voters to pay close attention to ballot instructions in future elections.

“We did receive a lot of ballots back where people had printed their name rather than signing it,” she said. “When you receive your ballot and you are filling it out, fill it out according to the directions at the top of the ballot and make sure you sign the white envelope with your signature.”

Election workers have spent the past week processing ballots by hand, a task Pettingill said is especially impressive given the size of the office.

“I think we're most proud of our ability to process this many ballots as quickly as we did with such a small team,” she said. “The fact that we were able to get through nearly 30,000 ballots within a week, week and a half of the election is actually really impressive.”

According to Secretary of State data, most voters in both counties chose to return their ballots through drop boxes rather than the mail.

In Grant County, 67.16% of ballots were returned through drop boxes, compared to 32.72% by mail. Adams County voters relied even more heavily on drop boxes, with 76.02% of ballots returned through drop sites and 23.91% returned by mail.

Adams County reported 4,450 ballots returned as of Nov. 9, representing a turnout rate of 50.27%. Of those ballots, 4,359 had been accepted and 91 had been challenged.

As certification approaches, Pettingill said elections staff remain focused on accuracy and voter access.

“We never want to sacrifice accuracy for speed,” she said. “We take our time and we try to make sure that we contact the voter if anything is needed. There's a lot more work that goes into it than simply counting ballots.”

Election results in both counties are scheduled to be certified Nov. 24.