SPOKANE, Wash. — Typically, people celebrate their birthdays with cake. But one Spokane native celebrates his special day with a different annual tradition, dropping off his ballot.

Now that he's retired, he believes voting is even more important.

"I like to do both. Absolutely every year," said Spokane resident Rick Pansie Jr. "You have to vote, everybody who lives here loves Spokane and you just want it to be a better place to live."

He drops off his ballot at a drop box and with less than a week until elections, Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton stresses voters should follow Pansie's example instead of mailing it at this point.

She says due to recent service standard changes this year, ballots sent through the mail could potentially be postmarked late, meaning they won't be counte

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