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There are more than 1.4 million registered voters in King County. King County Elections has only received 271,163 ballots. According to voter data analyzed through November 3, that means only 18.8 percent of King County ballots have been returned so far. Election day is tomorrow.
And as of Monday, only 105,537 Seattleites had voted. For a city with more than 800,000 people (and at least 630,100 people over 18 as per 2020 census data) that’s a pretty dismal showing. King County Elections data shows that in most areas in Seattle, 91 percent of the population or more are registered to vote. Save for those fools in the University District, the areas with below 91 percent voter registration are in the high 60s and 70s. Certainly, more ballots came in over the weekend. But, still. Where are the voters?
Now, this isn’t abnormal for odd-year elections in Seattle. Last time we did this dance in 2023, almost 50 percent of voters cast their ballots in the last two days of the election. But, only 38 percent of voters turned out. We can and should do better than that. (And we’ve got it in us. In 2024, King County had more than 80 percent voter turnout.)
Without a lot of voters, the will of the people becomes the will of the few. And, as it shakes out with voter trends, that means the will of the old, and the conservative. Over half the ballots cast in Seattle so far—59.6 percent—belonged to people over 55. Recent Stranger polling confirms those voters are more conservative voters, opting for incumbents like Bruce Harrell rather than progressives like Katie Wilson for mayor.
So far, only 12.7 percent of voters between the ages of 35 and 44 have voted. And only 9.6 percent of those ballots came from 25 to 34 year olds. The 18 to 24-year-olds only accounted for 6.2 percent of ballots.
Do we have to spell it out, procrastinating Millennials and Gen-Zers?. You’re going to drop your ballot off at the ballot box at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday night, right? Well … you should.
If you want to break it down by location, the most votes—16.91 percent—have come from District 3, the district that spans Capitol Hill, First Hill, the Central District, and Leschi, Madison Park, and Montlake. It’s Seattle’s most populous district, but it’s also quite wealthy (and by the water, of course). The second most votes came from District 6 where 16.86 percent of ballots came from. That includes Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, and Ballard. It’s where Sara Nelson lives. The “fleece belt” her campaign has been targeting, according to reporting from The Stranger, or whatever. Is this turnout a good sign or a bad sign? The fewest votes have come from District 2 and District 7. Only 12.64 of the total ballots were from District 2 voters, which is maybe a bit surprising since this is the only district actually voting for a district-specific council member in the race between Eddie Lin and Adonis Ducksworth. The least amount of votes—12.04 percent—were from the downtown, Queen Anne, and Magnolia dwellers in District 7. Maybe that’s for the best.
If you haven’t voted yet, remember: It is too late to mail your ballot. Officials say new United States Postal Service rules make postmarking slower and less reliable. It’s not a guarantee a ballot mailed Monday would be postmarked in time to count for the election. Find a ballot drop box and vote that way.
If you have voted, make sure to track your ballot. In Seattle, 558 of your votes haven’t counted yet because of signature issues—375 of you didn’t even sign your ballot and 184 signed them incorrectly. You can fix it. It’s easy! It happened to me in the primary and King County Elections sent me a digital form to fix my signature. I did so in under five minutes. Make sure your vote counts.
All in all, voter turn out is what is going to decide this election. Money helps—and Bruce Harrell has $3.1 million across his PAC and his candidate contributions. Recent contributions to Harrell’s PAC included $12,500 from Zillow’s CEO and $5,000 from the owner of Beecher’s Cheese. Harrell’s throwing those millions at television ads and flyers to win over low information voters. And he will if the people buying what he’s selling are the only ones who vote.
