2023 King County election: Lowest voter turnout in nearly 90 years

In the fallout of Washington’s general election in November, the voter turnout in King County was the lowest in state history, according to King County election data.

Overall, just slightly more than 500,000 ballots were returned out of nearly 1.4 million registered voters, or 37.9% — the lowest recorded since reliable voter registration counts began in 1936, according to The Seattle Times. This trend tangentially coincides with a consistent drop in odd-year elections, which has dipped below 40% each time since 2015.

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There have been past movements to move most city and local district elections to even years to be paired alongside federal and state races. Most recently, Democratic State Rep. Mia Gregerson sponsored a measure last year to move a vast majority of state, county, city, town and district general elections to even years. Washington state law currently requires city and local district elections to be held in odd-numbered years.

Registered voters in King County have far stronger turnouts for bigger, national elections. During the 2020 general election, 86.6% of registered voters turned in ballots, with 65.9% turning in a ballot two years later for the 2022 general election.

“Of the top 10 worst general election turnouts in state history, five are the last five odd-numbered general elections – 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021,” Andrew Villeneuve, founder of the Northwest Progressive Institute, wrote for The Urbanist in August. “2017 currently ranks as the worst, 2015 ranks as second worst, and 2021 ranks third. 2023 looks like it could be a contender for the title of worst-ever general election turnout.”

The Northwest Progressive Institute has long been advocating for a transition of city and local district elections to even years. Villeneuve cited two elections to push the organization’s point: The 2021 mayoral election versus the 2020 vote for Seattle Proposition 1 — a transit levy that contained a 0.15% sales tax. The tax was to raise approximately $39 million annually over six years for funding transit service, capital projects and transit access programs.

439,805 Seattle residents voted on the measure, good for 88.2% of all registered voters in the city, mostly due to the measure falling on the 2020 general election cycle. The following year, when Seattle residents had to vote in the mayoral race, just 267,414 ballots were counted (54.6% of registered voters in the city).

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“Every published study on election timing and voter turnout shows that combining local elections with state and federal elections is the single most effective change that local governments can make to increase turnout,” Zoltan L. Hajnal, Vladimir Kogan and G. Agustin Markarian wrote in a 2021 article for the American Political Science Review.

Between 2010 and 2021, the state has averaged 43% turnout in odd years, compared to 74% in even years.