On August 18, Snohomish County certified the August 4 primary, reporting a 33 percent turnout based on 182,704 ballots counted from 545,986 registered voters. But Snohomish County is home to roughly 680,000 adults, and about 545,000 of them are registered to vote. That means, taking population into account, turnout was closer to 27 percent.
| Age | Adults | Registered | Reg % | Voted | Voted % of Reg | Voted % of Pop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-24 | 69,622 | 48,640 | 69.9% | 8,302 | 17.1% | 11.9% |
| 25-34 | 114,386 | 85,322 | 74.6% | 14,392 | 16.9% | 12.6% |
| 35-44 | 137,125 | 103,673 | 75.6% | 24,518 | 23.6% | 17.9% |
| 45-54 | 107,433 | 86,379 | 80.4% | 24,966 | 28.9% | 23.2% |
| 55-64 | 105,700 | 86,059 | 81.4% | 32,897 | 38.2% | 31.1% |
| 65+ | 146,061 | 134,642 | 92.2% | 77,195 | 57.3% | 52.9% |
| All Adults | 680,326 | 544,715 | 80.1% | 182,270 | 33.5% | 26.8% |
Over 92 percent of residents over 65 are registered to vote, and they were four and a half times more likely to vote in this primary than a resident aged 18 to 24, among whom less than 70 percent are registered to vote. And of the 544,715 people registered and active in Snohomish County, 362,445 - about 67 percent - received a ballot in the mail and did not return it.
The 55 Divide
Low turnout among young voters is a familiar story, but data from the primary election tells a more interesting story. Among voters under age 55 - about 324,014 voters - cast just 72,178 ballots, a little over 22 percent. Meanwhile, 220,701 registered voters aged 55 and over cast 110,092 ballots, a rate of about 50 percent. Voters under 55 represent a majority of the county's active registrations yet cast just 40 percent of its ballots.
Where Ballots Came From
Drop boxes accounted for about 71 percent of all returned ballots, while approximately 29 percent were returned by mail. That's a flip from four years ago, when just 57 percent of ballots were returned via drop box in the August 2022 primary. Voters in Snohomish County have moved decisively toward drop boxes, a smart decision according to the county's rejection data.
Was Your Ballot Counted?
Snohomish County rejected 3,704 returned ballots, almost 2 percent. A ballot returned by mail was almost twelve times more likely to be rejected than one placed in a drop box. Of the 3,045 mail ballots rejected, 2,886 were rejected for being too late. That's 95 percent of all mail rejections.
| Return Method | Rejected |
|---|---|
| Drop Box | 637 |
| 3,045 |
While ballots can be deposited in a drop box up until 8pm on election day, a ballot dropped in a mailbox waits for a postmark added at the post office, a delay that could easily make a ballot ineligible. Of 3,062 ballots rejected as too late countywide, 1,669 arrived on August 6, two days after the election.
By comparison, only 175 ballots in drop boxes were rejected for being too late. Signature mismatch accounted for 527 rejected ballots countywide, with a large share of signatures rejected among voters aged 18 to 24.
Almost Everyone Waits
Ballots were mailed on July 14, and voting opened July 17. Voters had eighteen days to vote and return their ballot before the August 4 primary. More than half of all ballots arrived in the final three days. Among voters aged 18 to 24, almost 66 percent of their ballots arrived in those last three days. Voters over age 65 mostly voted early; only about 41 percent of their ballots arrived in the final days.