‘Do not mail it’: Secretary of State urges voters to use drop boxes, dispels voter fraud fears

Only hours remain for voters to cast their ballots in the Washington state primary election, and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is urging anyone who hasn’t yet to skip the mailbox and use a drop box instead.

Hobbs told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that the U.S. Postal Service changed the way it processes postmarks, making a drop box more efficient.

“If you have your ballot in your hand right now, do not mail it. Put it in a drop box,” he said. “Now there is a chance for you to mail it, but it’s really you going to a post office, going to the clerk and asking them to stamp it with a postmark. But why do that when you can just put it in the drop box?”

Hobbs to moderates: ‘Don’t let the far extremes make the decision for you’

Hobbs said the state is expecting between 35% and 40% voter turnout for the primary, noting it could be even lower. He urged Republicans, particularly moderates and independents, not to sit out the primary, saying their votes matter even in a blue state.

“Your vote does matter,” Hobbs said. “I know we’re in a blue state, but these legislative races, sometimes it can make the difference, especially if the electorate is upset. When I was in the state legislature as a state senator, it wasn’t that long ago we were in the minority. So it does make a difference.

“If the party goes too far and goes off the rails, then the voters are going to react to that,” he continued. “So if you’re a Republican out there, especially, I want to talk to the moderates and independents out there because they don’t seem to vote during the primary. You have a voice. Don’t let the far extremes of the political spectrum make the decision for you.”

Hobbs addresses election integrity concerns

Hobbs dispelled fears of voter fraud, saying that from 2008 to 2025, 90 million Washingtonians voted and there were only five instances of voter fraud. He noted the state separates that from non-citizens voting, where from 1982 to 2025, there have only been 15 cases of non-citizens voting — which is .00006%.

“I understand why people might have this thought, because we have done a poor job of telling you about the election process,” Hobbs added. “We’ve done a really good job telling you when to vote, but we have done a poor job telling you that we check every signature.

“We audit before and after the election,” he continued. “We audit our machines. We are connected to various databases, so we know when people vote in the same election twice, or when dead people’s ballots show up. We know when that happens. So we just have to do a better job telling people what we do.”

A map of drop boxes can be found here. Polls close at 8 p.m.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.