‘Eye-popping’ voter turn out for Washington presidential primary so far

The number of turned in ballots for Washington’s presidential primary comes as a surprise, especially because there isn’t much contention left in the race.

About 900,000 ballots have been turned in, according to David Ammons, spokesperson for Secretary of State Kim Wyman. Despite the primary race petering out — with Donald Trump already being the presumptive Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton ahead of Bernie Sanders — the fact that so many people are still active and voting comes as a bit of a shock.

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But Ammons said there may be more involvement because of the drama surrounding the primary. Voters are “really engaged,” he said. That goes double for Sanders supporters, who are engaged and involved, “even though the race is, apparently, over.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen people this engaged in a presidential cycle,” Ammons said.

Though polls show the general election will most likely be between Trump and Clinton, Sanders is refusing to go down without a fight. Sanders, unlike Trump’s Republican opponents, hasn’t conceded a thing.

“We are in until the last ballot is cast,” Sanders said defiantly earlier this week.

And thanks to the results of the Washington caucus, Sanders supporters may very well feel the same way in Washington — Sanders won 74 delegates in March, over Clinton’s 27.

But Washingtonian’s involvement in the primary may not be all about Sanders. The attention both Trump and Clinton have garnered over the past several months may be firing more people up and encouraging them to get out and vote.

“Certainly Donald Trump has broken all the rules and engaged a lot of people both for and against him,” Ammons said.

That was especially true during Trump’s two rallies in Washington, where the billionaire spent some time in Spokane and Lynden. The rallies didn’t gain nearly as much attention as others, though, there were a few arrests made as Trump continued to promote his vision — including his wall, which will be a “nice high wall” with a door.

“We will build a wall, it will be a nice high wall, it will have a door in it” #TrumpWAhttps://t.co/C0DRMsFnDR pic.twitter.com/xHGHfWC965

— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) May 7, 2016

And, although Clinton didn’t do quite so well in Washington as Sanders, she was able to draw crowds during her visit in March. Since then, she’s continued to win delegates in her quest for the Democratic nomination. As of Tuesday, she was just 90 delegates short of clinching it.

With ballots still coming in, Washington could see a record turnout for a presidential primary. Ammons said that currently, double the amount of ballots have been returned than the state would expect to see at last hour of voting.

“We’re on pace to see that and we could create a record,” he said.

“It’s an eye-popping number so far … this shows people are really turned on by the presidential cycle and want to have their voices heard.”

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