Washington state sent primary, not presidential, ballots (2024)

Shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, some social media users claimed his late departure presented an opportunity for former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, to win historically "blue" states.

"Trump could win 50 states," read a screenshot of a July 21 X post shared on Instagram. "Here is a funny scenario that no one is talking about. The state of Washington has already sent out their ballots."

The X post continued, making claims about how votes for Biden, Harris and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent candidate, would be counted. The Instagram post added that "states like Washington that weren’t up for grabs are now on the radar" for Trump.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

(Screenshot from Instagram)

The claim that Washington state has already "sent out" ballots for the November 2024 presidential election is inaccurate.

Every person registered to vote in Washington is mailed a ballot at least 18 days before an election.

The state’s next election is an Aug. 6 statewide primary election. That August ballot includes candidates for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, statewide executive offices, the state Legislature, state court positions, local races and local ballot measures, according to the secretary of state’s website.

Washington held its presidential primary election separately, on March 12. Biden won the Democratic primary and Trump won the Republican primary, according to the certified election results.

For the state’s August primary, county election offices were required to mail out ballots by July 19, according to the secretary of state’s website.

The website noted: "The August Primary does not include President/Vice President."

Derrick Nunnally, spokesperson for Washington’s secretary of state, confirmed: "Washington’s ballots for the Aug. 6 state primary are out; these do not include the Presidential election."

Featured Fact-check

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stated on June 27, 2024 in an X post

“CNN will implement a 1-2 minute delay for tonight’s presidential debate instead of the standard 7-second delay, potentially allowing time to edit parts of the broadcast.”

Although Harris has enough support from delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, delegates will not vote for the nominee until August.

Washington state’s Democratic party has also expressed support for Harris. In a July 21 statement on X, party Chair Shasti Conrad called on Biden’s delegates to support Harris.

"Vice President Kamala Harris has spent the last four years championing and pushing President Biden’s successful agenda," Conrad said. "She knows this work is heart-led work and her effective advancement of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities position her as the only viable alternative to President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket."

Under Washington law, presidential candidates must be certified for the November ballot by Aug. 20, which falls during the Democratic National Convention scheduled for Aug. 19-22. Democratic leaders are seeking to streamline efforts through a virtual nominee selection process that would end by Aug. 7, multiple outlets reported.

In April, Washington officials said they would accept a letter from the Democratic National Committee attesting that Biden would be the party’s nominee. Nunnally told PolitiFact July 22 that the secretary of state’s office would still accept a letter from the Democratic National Committee attesting to the party’s alternate nominee.

"This possibility was provided to accommodate the Democratic party’s stated nomination schedule after reviewing both state law and precedent from 2020," Nunnally said, noting that in 2020 both parties submitted "provisional nominations" due to a misalignment of the convention schedules and law deadline.

Nunnally said Washington would finalize its ballot for the November presidential election by Aug. 23.

Ballots for the presidential election will be sent statewide starting Oct. 18, 18 days before the Nov. 5 general election, he said.

Our ruling

An Instagram post said "the state of Washington has already sent out their ballots" for the 2024 presidential election.

Washington state sent out ballots for its Aug. 6 statewide primary election, which does not include a presidential primary.

We rate this claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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