OLYMPIA — Voters in the state’s most-populous cities and smallest towns shouldn’t have to look as hard in future elections for a box in which to return their ballots postage-free.

On Wednesday, the state House approved a Senate bill requiring dozens of additional drop boxes be installed throughout the state, possibly in time for the August primary.

The House passed Senate Bill 5472 on a 51-46 vote with only one Republican, House Minority Leader Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, supporting it.

The vote followed a spirited floor debate in which Democrats lauded it as a means of increasing access for voters in rural communities and Republicans countered that the well-intended measure forces counties to spend thousands of dollars to serve small numbers of voters in remote communities.

The legislation, which passed in the Senate 49-0, now goes to Gov. Jay Inslee for his expected signature.

“I would like to increase the number of ballot drop boxes. I think it’s appropriate to do that in many, many places in the state,” Inslee told reporters Thursday morning. “Drop boxes are really important to people’s access to the ballot.”

The legislation authored by Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, requires at least one ballot drop box for every 15,000 registered voters in a county and a minimum of one box in each city, town, and census-designated place in a county with a post office.

It will result in between 250 and 275 additional drop boxes in Washington.

Snohomish County, which has 12 permanent drop boxes and roughly 455,000 registered voters, will need to install 20 additional boxes, officials said. Sultan, Granite Falls, Gold Bar, Startup, Darrington, Index, Mountlake Terrace and Mill Creek will be getting one while cities such as Everett and Marysville will be getting more.

Many of the smaller towns are in Pearson’s 39th Legislative District. He said when he introduced the bill he wanted to make it easier for them so they didn’t need to travel extended distances to find a drop box. Another reason for the bill is Pearson’s dislike of the all-mail ballot system used in Washington and the need to use a stamp to mail in ballots if you don’t use a drop box.

“We should be making it easier for the citizens of Washington State to vote, not harder,” Pearson said in a statement Thursday. “Forcing people to pay for postage in order to vote is essentially a poll tax. It’s only fair that every citizen should have an opportunity to drop their ballot off rather than mail it in.”

Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel was among the auditors who testified against the legislation as it moved through the Senate and House. She asked lawmakers to give auditors until next year to comply. And she asked that auditors be allowed to decide locations because in Snohomish County it did not make sense to put a box in every town along U.S. 2.

And then there’s concern with the costs. Counties are on the hook to pay for acquiring and installing the boxes. In Snohomish County, it works out to about $10,000 apiece, she said, and then there is the money needed to hire workers to check every box every election.

“I’m disappointed,” she said Thursday. “We hoped to get it amended to at least give auditors the flexibility and more time. Now we are forced to deal with an unfunded mandate and no additional dollars to pay for it in this current budget.”

In the House debate Wednesday, Rep. John Koster, R-Arlington, a former Snohomish County councilmember, offered an amendment to alleviate some of the concerns.

It would have required the state to cover installation costs and give auditors until July 2018 to comply. It also authorized boxes to be installed at public schools, libraries and fire stations. Democrats voted it down 50-47.

“This is an unfunded mandate,” he said.

His colleagues said cash-strapped rural counties can’t afford the added cost. And their residents, they said, are already voting in large numbers.

The bill is “chasing a problem that in a lot of cases doesn’t exist,” said Rep. Cary Condotta, R-Wenatchee.

Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, chairman of the House State Government, Elections &Information Technology Committee, said people in small communities will benefit as “this bill would make it easier to get their ballots in.”

He acknowledged concerns about costs and said he was able to get a $100,000 allotment in the House Capital Budget to help rural counties. Qualified counties could receive grants of up to $1,000 per box location.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.

How much does a drop box cost?

Here’s a breakdown of what Snohomish County spent to install one at the Canyon Park Place Shopping Center in Bothell.

Purchase price and delivery: $1,537.50

Decals purchase and application: $613.70

Installation including excavation, pouring concrete pad, securing box with anchor bolts plus materials and labor: $6,822.80

Total cost: $8,974

Source: Snohomish County Auditor’s Office