Vote in
Washington
Pick a different stateRegister by October 26
The deadline has passed. Eligible voters have up until 8:00 PM on an election day to register to vote, or update registration information, in-person at a voting center or county elections department.
Facts · Read Oct 26Check you are registered. If you are not, do it now.
Go to Washington registration →Vote by mail October 16 to November 3
Open now
2 days left.
Washington votes by mail. The 18-day voting period starts Friday, October 16, 2026, when ballots are mailed, and runs through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Each county opens a voting center for in-person services during business hours; find yours at VoteWA.gov.
Pick the day you will return your ballot
Election Day, November 3. Last resort.
Where to vote
Find your polling placeSign in to VoteWA.gov and select Drop Boxes and Voting Center Locations to see a list or map of drop boxes and voting centers near you.Read October 26, 2026 from Washington Secretary of State.
Registered at home but living somewhere else?What Washington says to do when the address you are registered at is not the address you live at.
We have not confirmed Washington’s rule for this from an official source yet, so we are not printing one. Check which address you are registered at, then ask that county election office what to do.
All the datesRegistering online, by mail and in person, checking your registration, your polling place, and when polls close in Washington.
Register by
Monday, October 26, 2026, online or by mail. After that you can still register in person until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register online
Register online at VoteWA.gov with a Washington driver license, permit, or state ID card, or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register by mail
Your county elections office must receive the form by Monday, October 26, 2026. A postmark does not count.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register in person
Register in person at a county elections office or voting center until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register and vote the same day
Check you are registered
The state says to visit VoteWA.gov to see if you are registered.
Facts · Read Oct 26Early, in person
Washington votes by mail. The 18-day voting period starts Friday, October 16, 2026, when ballots are mailed, and runs through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Each county opens a voting center for in-person services during business hours; find yours at VoteWA.gov.
Facts · Read Oct 26Find your polling place
Sign in to VoteWA.gov and select Drop Boxes and Voting Center Locations to see a list or map of drop boxes and voting centers near you.
Facts · Read Oct 26Polls close
Drop boxes and voting centers close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26What to bringThe ID Washington accepts, and what to do if you do not have one.
ID your state accepts
- Washington votes by mail. Your county elections office reviews the signature on your ballot envelope and compares it to your voter registration record.
The state does not ask most voters to show ID to vote. If you use an accessible voting unit at a voting center, the county will either compare your signature or check identification.
Facts · Read Oct 26If you do not have one
Carry a second document
Checking. We are still checking this with the state. Ask your state election office.
Make the plan
Three taps. No account. It stays on this phone.
Roll Call
Lock your date, bring your people, and see how your side is doing.
Who runs your election
The Washington Secretary of State administers elections in Washington. Your county or parish election office runs the polling places, counts the ballots, and answers questions about your own ballot. They are the people to call, and the ones whose answer is final.
Statewide offices are the ones every voter in Washington votes on, and every ballot counts the same from any precinct in the state. District seats are drawn on a map, so where you live decides which of those you vote on.
Some years a ballot also asks voters to change the rules of voting itself. Those questions tend to cover:
- what counts as ID at the polls or with a mail ballot
- how early voting and mail voting work, and by when
- how districts get drawn and who draws them
- how the election office itself is run and funded
We do not tell you what is on your ballot or what to make of it. Your sample ballot carries the official wording, written by the state. Read it at the Washington Secretary of State.
Mail, honestlyVoting by mail works. It also has rules, and the rules are where ballots get lost.
Your dates are above: when to ask for the ballot, when it has to be back, what happens if a signature is questioned.
- Sign exactly the way you signed when you registered.
- Send it back early, not on the last day.
- Would rather not trust the mail? Check the early in-person window above and go in person.
Ask for your ballot by
Every registered voter is mailed a ballot. If yours does not arrive, contact your county elections office or print a replacement at VoteWA.gov.
Facts · Read Oct 26It has to be back by
Put it in an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day, or mail it (no stamp needed) postmarked by Election Day. The state recommends mailing more than a week before Election Day, and using a drop box after that.
Facts · Read Oct 26Track your ballot
Sign in to VoteWA.gov to see when your ballot was mailed, received, accepted or challenged. You can also text VOTE to 868392 for text alerts.
Facts · Read Oct 26If your signature is questioned
The lineIf the line is long, that is not a reason to leave. It is a reason to stay.
Bring water. Bring a charger. Bring a chair if you can carry one, a book, and a friend. Check your bag rules with your county first. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line: your state decides what happens next, and every state page here prints its own rule in its own words.
- Water
- A charger
- A chair if you can
- Something to read
- A friend
If you are in line when polls close in Washington
From Revised Code of Washington 29A.40.160(16), on the Legislature's official site. We did not find the Secretary of State restating it on a voter page.
Facts · Read Oct 26Time off to vote
Checking. We have not found the Secretary of State saying whether Washington gives time off to vote, so we print nothing yet. Ask your state election office.
Your rightsA provisional ballot, help if you need it, and the number to call from the line.
You can vote a provisional ballot
If your name is not on the list, or you do not have what they ask for, ask for a provisional ballot. In a federal election you have the right to cast one. Ask what you must do afterwards for it to count, and write it down.
You can bring someone to help
You can bring a person of your choice to help you vote, with limits your state sets on who it cannot be. Ask the poll worker for the rule in writing.
Language and disability assistance
Polling places must be accessible, and many places must provide help in other languages. Ask for the accessible machine, the curbside option, or the language help you need.
If someone tries to move you off your vote
Questions about your citizenship, a crowd following you in, someone filming you at the door, a person telling you that you cannot vote: none of that decides your vote. Do not leave the line. Call the hotline from where you stand.
Sources: the Washington Secretary of State, and the Election Protection coalition for the hotlines below.
Call from the line
If anyone tells you that you cannot vote, or you are turned away, or something feels wrong: do not leave. Call.
- 866-OUR-VOTE866-687-8683 · English
- 888-VE-Y-VOTA888-839-8682 · Spanish and English
- 888-API-VOTE888-274-8683 · Asian languages and English
- 844-YALLA-US844-925-5287 · Arabic and English
Election Protection, administered by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Numbers confirmed against their own site on September 19, 2026.
Your state election office is the final word. We print what its own pages say, with the date we read them.
Read on October 26, 2026 from your state election office, checked by AI against the Washington Secretary of State pages. Washington Secretary of State is the final word. See something wrong? Report it.