Snohomish County election officials reassure voters after typo on ballot envelopes

Voters in Snohomish County may have noticed something a little off on their election packet. A typo was spotted on thousands of ballot return envelopes. Today, the Snohomish County Auditor's Office is reassuring voters their ballot still counts. FOX 13's Frankie Thompson is in Everett to explain how the error was addressed. Printed on the upper corner of the ballot return envelope is the typo spelling out G-E-N-E-R-E-A-L election with an extra E. The printing error was brought to light after Eagle Dot community members noticed the mistake and alerted the Snohomish County Auditor's Office. We've had a few calls and we've certainly seen a few people on social media comment about it. It's only been a few days since the Snohomish County Auditor's Office mailed out the first round of election ballots. And already more than 6,000 have been filled and returned, much of them with the misspelled envelope, an oversight some voters missed. I didn't notice it either. Maybe someone might make a big deal out of it, but I don't think a typo should be restrictive. And auditor Garth Fell promises it won't be. Fell says the error happened during the variable data printing process right before insertion. The mistake has since been corrected for all remaining ballots, and proofreading procedures are being reviewed for future elections. We want to reassure voters that the typo doesn't have any impact on the validity of the ballot that we mailed to them. They can send that back and it will be accepted and counted just like any other ballot. The typo isn't the only thing getting attention in the North Sound this election cycle. Fell says his office is seeing high community engagement overall. To give residents extra time to participate, the county mailed out ballot packets a week earlier than usual. So we've noticed in the past few elections that the post office is taking a bit more time delivering mail based on some changes they've made to their delivery routes. And so we wanted to make sure that voters had plenty of time to receive their ballot and consider all the important races. Once the ballot is returned, it's scanned inbound and processed through signature verification to ensure every vote matches official voter records before being counted. Fell says voters can track their ballot every step of the way by logging on to VoteWA.gov or signing up for text alerts. You'll be able to see when it's been mailed to you on the outbound side and then when it's been received by our office. And if for some reason there's an issue with your signature, that'll be noted as well. And so you can be on the lookout for information on how to cure a signature issue. With an average expected turnout of around 65% in Snohomish County, Fell is encouraging everyone to participate early. For those who choose to return by mail, he suggests sending it at least a week before Election Day to guarantee a postmark. For some voters, getting that ballot in early is just a matter of civic duty. It's a privilege we all have, and we shouldn't ever neglect it or ignore it. There are 38 drop boxes throughout Snohomish County. Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3rd, to cast their ballot. Reporting in Everett, Frankie Thompson, Fox 13 News.