Ballot returns trickle in as Election Day approaches

SEATTLE -- Election Day is less than 24 hours away and ballot returns have slowly been trickling in.

As of Monday morning, the entire state has seen only 16.8% of ballots returned. That’s a little over 700,000 ballots out of the 4.2 million registered voters in the state, according to the Secretary of State’s Office website.

A spokesperson at King County Elections said it has seen 19% of its ballots returned, a little less than what they predicted on the day before the election. They said they expect more ballots to show up by Election Day and estimate a 48% voter turnout for this general election.

Snohomish County shows 13% of its ballots returned while the number in Pierce County drops slightly to only 12.1% of ballots returned.

The Secretary of State’s Office says that in election years where voters aren’t choosing a president, there tends to be lower ballot returns.

In 2013, a similar post-presidential election year, 45.27% of Washington’s eligible voting population turned out, while in 2009 there was a 50.89% turnout, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

For a full list of ballot returns by county visit the Secretary of State’s website: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/research/Ballot-Return-Statistics.aspx