CONTACT:
Mary Hall, Thurston County Auditor 
TCAuditor@co.thurston.wa.us
360.786.5224
711 Washington Relay  

OLYMPIA – In 2023, the Thurston County Auditor’s Office updated almost 34,000 voter records for nearly 200,000 registered voters. 

“Ensuring the voter rolls remain up-to-date is the paramount duty for our voter registration staff throughout the year,” said Mary Hall, Thurston County Auditor. “We collaborate daily with our partners at the state and federal levels to guarantee the accuracy of our voter rolls.” 

Examples of these updates include: 

• 1,912 voter registrations were canceled upon voter request.  
• 1,947 voter registrations were canceled due to the death of the voter. 
• 3,777 voter registrations were moved to inactive status because of undeliverable mail. (Inactive voters do not receive a ballot unless they contact us and update their address.) 

The Thurston County Auditor’s Office faced a record 28 voter challenges in 2023, with nine eventually withdrawn and 14 upheld. “Voter challenges serve an important purpose, but the process can also be misconstrued. Voter challenges consume hundreds of personnel hours, they represented only a small fraction of the voter registrations we canceled in 2023,” Hall said. “In fact, these voters would have fallen off the voter rolls soon given the amount of work we do and the way state and federal laws are written.” 

The Auditor’s Office collaborates with trusted sources to maintain the accuracy of voter registration data:  

• The Office of the Secretary of State 
• The Social Security Administration 
• The United States Postal Service National Change of Address Program 
• Other state agencies, including Licensing, Health, Corrections, and the Office of the Administrator of the Courts 

The Auditor’s Office also eliminates registrations of deceased persons using health department data, published obituaries or written notices from relatives. 

Washington State is a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). ERIC employs data matching software to compare voter registration and motor vehicle licensing data across 30 other states, ensuring voters are not registered in multiple states. In 2023, the Auditor’s Office updated 1,747 voter records using ERIC data. 

“Our most critical partner in this effort is the voters themselves,” Hall said. If voters receive a ballot for a deceased voter, a voter who has moved, or anyone not residing at that address, they should contact the Auditor’s Office. Voters can also return the ballot through USPS by writing “Deceased” or “Not at this address” and depositing it in the mail. “The postal service returns those ballots and other election mail to us, and we cancel or inactivate the voter according to state and federal law,” Hall explained. 

###