‘You’re rationalizing bad practices at USPS’: Rep. Jim Walsh and Spike spar over Supreme Court late ballots debate

As Washington Rep. Jim Walsh explained his new Voter ID initiative, IP26-500, to “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, the conversation dove into the Supreme Court’s debate on late ballots, and KIRO host Spike O’Neill had a few concerns.

Walsh is pushing a state initiative that aligns with President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act to tighten Washington’s voter laws. His initiative would require a person who’s registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship when they register.

“It doesn’t touch when you vote — it’s when you register to vote, and it requires you to provide either an enhanced driver’s license or ID card from the state of Washington, or a passport, a birth certificate, or some other documents, including a naturalization document, if you’re a naturalized citizen,” he explained.

Walsh said over time, the new process would audit Washington’s voter database. He noted that in states that do in-person voting, that update happens organically as people use a voting center and have to show ID and update their address.

“As an all-mail-in voting state, we don’t have an organic way to update our databases like in-person voting states have,” he said.

Walsh distances initiative from late ballot case, Spike pushes back

Walsh also stressed that his initiative doesn’t alter mail-in voting, noting it is separate from the Supreme Court debate over laws allowing late-arriving mail ballots, which have been a frequent target of Trump.

“The other thing about the initiative is it doesn’t change mail-in voting, and there have been some headlines about that Supreme Court case, that Mississippi Supreme Court case that claimed that it would change mail-in voting. Those are both false,” he said.

Spike pushed back, arguing the ruling would affect voting by forcing voters to rely on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots on time.

“Supreme Court says you can’t accept a ballot after Election Day, even if it’s postmarked on Election Day. How does that not affect the voting?” he said. “Because then you’re putting it in the post office’s hands, which has no mechanism or requirements to deliver this in a timely manner.”

Walsh and Spike debate who’s responsible for USPS problems

Spike also pointed to a reduction in ballot drop boxes across the country in recent years, forcing more people to choose the mail-in option. He reiterated that USPS has no requirement to deliver ballots by a specific deadline.

“People would argue that that’s an attempt to make it harder to vote,” Spike said.

“The problem there is you’re basically rationalizing bad practices at the U.S. Postal Service,” Walsh argued.

“Rationalizing it?” Spike asked.

“Everything you just described, as problems with postmarks and sending to regional mail centers, that’s a U.S. Postal Service problem. They should fix that,” Walsh responded.

“But if they don’t, it impacts the voter,” Spike replied.

Spike’s solution would be putting more requirements on the post office.

“My argument is to require the post office: when you receive something, stamp something. If that’s your threshold for casting a ballot, dropping it in a post office, it should be marked the day you drop it,” he said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.