Waitsburg Gets Ballot-Drop Off Box

WAITSBURG - Waitsburg has a new ballot dropoff box by City Hall so voters can save a stamp.

Karen Martin, the Walla Walla County auditor, said at last week's council meeting the county would install a secure drop box in time for next month's general election. Eighteen days prior to the election, voters can fill out their ballot and drop it into the box for pickup, saving them the stamp it would take if it was dropped in the mail.

The box was installed Friday afternoon. Martin said the drop box is a new alternative to staffing a poll site in town. She said it is becoming too expensive to staff the site for many hours, only to have a few voters show up.

"We get a handful of ballots at most," she said.

In addition to using it for county elections, Martin said the city could use the box to collect ballots for its local annual elections.

The box was unanimously approved by the council.

Members of the city council heard Martin's presentation on the new drop box last Wednesday night and believed it is a good idea, but Councilman Scott Nettles requested after this election, the county replace the white box with a black one to match the others in front of City Hall for a more cohesive look.