Ahead of next week’s primary election, voter turnout is low in King County

Washington’s primary election is Tuesday, August 5. So far, voter turnout is low in King County.

Only 10% of the ballots have been returned so far, according to Halei Watkins, Communications Manager at King County Elections. She expects the final turnout to be approximately 35%, which she said is pretty strong when compared to numbers nationwide.

“Now, that doesn’t mean it’s good enough,” Watkins told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “We would like to see it much, much higher, and folks should absolutely take that step and make their voices heard.”

Presidential elections tend to have much higher turnouts than primaries or special elections. However, primaries are important too, Watkins said.

Primary election has big impact

“It’s these local races that really have a big impact on our day-to-day lives and on our communities,” she said. “So, the primary gives us an opportunity to weigh in and pick our top two candidates to move forward to November, and it’s really important to get out there and make your voices heard.”

One reason she believes turnout tends to be low during Washington’s primary elections is the fact that it happens in the summertime, and people forget about it.

“I think the sunshine comes out, and us Pacific Northwesterners get quite distracted with the beauty of where we live and all of the back-to-school plans and summer vacation, and it’s really easy to get lost,” Watkins said. “But voting is a habit, so the more that we can build that habit across every single election, the more folks will turn up in these local primary races.”

King County voters will be narrowing down the field for offices, including the mayor of Seattle, some Seattle City Council seats, and the county executive.

Ballots will need to be dropped off at your local elections office by 8 p.m. on August 5.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Follow @FrankLenziKIRO