Supreme Court Decision Affirms Security of Washington Elections

On March 6, 2025, the Washington State Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge that would have made Washington’s elections less secure and threatened to upend our state’s mail-in voting system.

Beginning in November of 2022, Civil Division Prosecutors in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office joined Deputy Attorneys General in the Washington Attorney General’s Office to defend Washington’s voting system. These teams worked hand in hand as the case wound its way through the courts, until it was heard by the Supreme Court in 2025.

In the Court’s 9–0 decision, Chief Justice Gonzáles held:

“[…] signature verification is only a part of the election system established by our legislature. In recent years, our legislature has taken substantial steps to improve that system. Among other things, it has directed local election workers to take greater efforts to contact voters whose ballots are challenged and it has expanded the ways voters may cure their ballots and have their votes counted. We conclude that at least when coupled with the increasingly expansive cure system, signature verification, on its face, does not violate our state constitution.”

With this decision, Washington’s system of mail-in voting and signature verification remains intact, ensuring that our election officials can continue to protect against potential voter fraud.