SEATTLE -- Post-election outrage is growing.

But the anger isn't necessarily over who was elected or is in the lead. Instead, it may have more to do with how mail-in ballots are collected in Washington state.

Susan Hutchison, defeated candidate for King County executive, is calling for a plan that would require all mail-in ballots to be in the hands of county elections departments by Election Day.

"Oregon does it differently, and we need to change at the state level. We need to change the way we do this, " said Hutchison to Kirby Wilbur of KVI radio Tuesday night.

While Hutchison's opponent, Dow Constantine, has declared victory after gaining a decisive lead early, other races may drag on for days or even weeks as ballots trickle in to elections offices.

At 8:15 p.m. on Election day, King County released its preliminary returns, which place Mike McGinn ahead of Joe Mallahan in the Seattle mayoral race by just 910 votes.

During the primary, the two candidates took and lost the lead in the day-by-day race for about a week as new ballots were counted.

Shortly after McGinn's lead was announced this time however, his volunteers began calling supporters and asking anyone who hadn't voted yet to get their ballots to an open post office before midnight to ensure an election day postmark to have their vote counted.

One automated voice messages by McGinn's campaign said, in part, "Initial returns show the closest election in city history, and it's not too late to vote."

The McGinn campaign's tactic is perfectly legal, according to Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed.

But a similar situation, in addition to weeks of ballot counting last year prompted Reed to ask lawmakers in Olympia to consider changing state law.

"In this day and age, we really need to have results that are more meaningful on Election Night," said Reed.

Reed's plan mirrors the one Hutchison said she now supports.

"That's going to require us as voters making the effort to get those ballots in earlier and asking the Legislature to change the law," said Reed.

During last legislative session, the plan faced opposition from some lawmakers who felt a change might disenfranchise some voters. Other legislators argued the plan went against years of election history. But Reed now says he's hopeful voters and candidates will look at this election with enough dissatisfaction to advocate change.

"That will require voters here in the state of Washington expressing that both to their county elections people, but also very importantly to the state legislators," said Reed.

"We've got to get this fixed," Hutchison said.