Every ballot is photographed and inspected before the results are tallied.

Before a ballot is counted in Thurston County, it goes through several steps.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure every valid vote counts,” said Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall.

Ballots are first sorted into precincts and the signatures are photographed to ensure the registered voter filled out the ballot.

If there’s a problem with the signature, the county contacts voters by mail and phone. If the signatures match, paid staffers then visually inspect the ballots.

State law requires every ballot to get an inspection in case someone voted for both candidates, or put a check next to someone’s name instead of properly filling out a circle. Questionable ballots are set aside for canvassing boards in case a race is too close to call.

Ballots without any problems get processed starting at 10 in the morning on the Monday before Election Day. The scanning computers do not tabulate those results.