In Tight Mayor's Race, Katie Wilson Campaign Won't Rest Until Every Vote Gets Counted

Election day has come and gone, but the race for Mayor of Seattle isn’t over yet. In a small ballot drop on Thursday, progressive challenger Katie Wilson started to close the gap between her and Mayor Bruce Harrell. With plenty of votes left to count, she could still win, but the difference between four more years of Harrell and a full progressive sweep of City Hall lies in just a handful of ballots. That’s why challenger Katie Wilson is still in campaign mode, now organizing a volunteer effort to make sure every ballot counts. 

According to King County Election’s (KCE) ballot return dashboard, the County "challenged" 4,119 ballots, meaning they cannot count them unless the voter corrects an issue with their signature. About 1,600 voters signed their ballot in a way that did not match the signature the county has on file and 2,400 voters neglected to sign their ballot all together. 

Of the challenged ballots, 1,794 come from Seattle voters. With about 277,000 voters returning a ballot in Seattle, those challenged ballots account for a little more than half a percent. That’s not nothing in a race as close as the one between Harrell and Wilson. 

KCE will try to contact you via email, text, and mail to alert you of a challenged ballot. You can also check at King County’s voter portal and it should help you fix issues from there. If your ballot is challenged because your signature does not match what the County has on file, use this form to fix it. If your ballot is challenged because you didn’t sign your ballot, use this form. 

Even with efforts from the County and campaigns, only about 50% to 60% of voters with challenged ballots actually end up resolving the issue. So, Wilson’s team is taking it into their own hands, launching a final campaign push to “cure” the challenged ballots. 

According to Xochitl Maykovich, the organizer who led Wilson’s ground game during the General election, 124 people have already signed up to chase down voters with challenged ballots. You can sign up to help here. 

“...we’re not going to stop until every vote is counted,” Maykovich said in a statement to The Burner. “If this race comes down to rejected ballots, we have the advantage.”

The results of the election will be officially certified Nov. 25.