1. Mail processing delays could result in more invalidated mail-in ballots this year, and elections officials are advising voters to vote as early as possible or drop off their ballots at a ballot box in order to have their ballots counted.

“Given some of the operational and logistical priorities that have ben set by the postal service, we really can’t guarantee that ballots sent by mail” on or immediately before election day “will be postmarked by that November 4 timeline, due to how they are processing their mail,” SOS spokesman Charlie Boisner said. Among other issues, the post office has been relying more heavily on regional processing center, rather than processing mail locally, Boisner said.

Earlier this year, USPS announced a policy update stating that it does not guarantee that mail will be postmarked on the day it’s received, potentially invalidating ballots that are mailed on election day, November 4, but postmarked later.

The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review first reported on the potential impacts to Washington’s vote-by-mail system last week.

A spokeswoman for King County Elections, Halei Watkins, said the elections office has always encouraged people to vote by the Friday before election day, and is “not necessarily planning to do a big push” for the November election “since our long-term messaging should continue to serve our voters well.”

“Many counties have relied on a message of ‘check for the last pickup time on the mailbox if you’re mailing on Election Day’ but we’ve heard from too many voters over the years that mailed on Election Day or even the day before only to get a too-late postmark,” Watkins said.

According to Boisner, only about 33 percent of Washington state voters mail in their ballots; the rest use ballot drop boxes.

“We’re really fortunate in this state, where we get to experience an 18-day voting period and have developed the infrastructure over decades to have several convenient and easy ballot return options for voters to use,” Boisner said. “So while we still are confident in the services that the Post Office provides … we recommend taking full advantage of that full 18-day voting period and voting early

King County has  85 drop boxes around the county, including 30 in Seattle. Another option, Watkins said, is to “physically walk the ballot into the post office and ask for a postmark – don’t just drop it, but talk to someone at the counter and ask them to stamp it.”

2. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed 2026 budget uses a lot of one-time funding, mostly from a business and occupation tax increase that still has  to be approved by voters, to pay for needs that will probably be ongoing, like legal aid for immigrants and food assistance for low-income people who stand to lose federal benefits. According to a Harrell spokesperson, the budget keeps this spending one-time in order “to allow the city to determine where the greatest impacts have been and where other funders may fill gaps in the federal funding” in the future.

Harrell may not be sure whether immigrants will need legal aid (which gets $300,000 in his budget proposal) in the future. But he is certain that the city needs to keep pouring more money into the war on graffiti, which his budget describes as “a priority of the One Seattle initiative” and “a key factor in improving Seattle livability.”

Harrell’s budget increases funding for his “One Seattle Graffiti” plan by $1.6 million this year, for a total of $6.1 million—a 36 percent increase from 2025. Most of that money will be spent hiring six new permanent staffers to address graffiti, including a graffiti prevention specialist in the arts department who works to ” lead and enhance the beautification efforts of graffiti art, connect with the graffiti society, and educate, mentor and guide youth to use their time and energy in constructive ways.”

Harrell’s official accounting of the graffiti budget doesn’t include the “in-house” cost of diverting lawyers in the Law Department from working on other types of misdemeanor cases to focus on pursuing taggers. The budget also propses adding $4.1 million to expand the Downtown Activation Team, whose duties include graffiti abatement, and extending one-time funds for cleanup, including graffiti removal, in the Chinatown-International District.