Long lines on Election Day aren’t common in Washington with the state’s vote-by-mail system.
But this year, some counties were inundated with people taking advantage of a relatively new same-day registration system.
Pierce County, for example, had hundreds of voters in line throughout Election Day. Traffic remained heavy all day at the county elections office and a drop box located there. Snohomish County’s election office had a steady stream of people looking to register or change addresses. Many other counties, like Clark, had people joining the lines at election offices up until the 8 p.m. voting deadline.
Washington is one of 23 states that allow same-day registration, and this election, more voters than ever took advantage of it.
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Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey — who’s been in office for seven presidential elections — said that in past elections, there was a line of 20 or 25 people at the elections office by 8 p.m. on election night. But this year, it was closer to 400 or 500 people. Kimsey said elections staff was there until 11:30 p.m. to take care of voters, according to reporting from Cascade PBS.
About 13,400 new registrations were submitted on Election Day this year, according to the secretary of state’s office. Another 15,600 voters updated their registrations with things like address changes on the day of the election.
That’s compared to 10,300 new registrations and 7,500 registration updates on Election Day in 2020.
Washington’s same-day registrations have grown by “leaps and bounds” in the last four years, said Greg Tito, spokesperson at the secretary of state’s office.
The Legislature first approved same-day voter registration in 2018. Before that law passed, voters could only complete in-person registration changes up until eight days before an election and mail-in registration changes no later than 29 days before an election.
Under the new law, voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to visit a county election office to register and receive a ballot, which they can complete onsite. Voters can also update their registration and receive a ballot in person throughout the day of the election. They also have until eight days before an election to update their registration by mail.
The 2019 primary was the first election where this new system was in place, and the number of voters using it has grown significantly every election since. Between 2019 and this year’s state primary, nearly 400,000 people updated their registration in the eight days before Election Day, a period when they previously would’ve been blocked from making changes.
Despite the increase in same-day registrations, however, overall voter turnout remained lower this year compared to some recent presidential elections.
As of Monday morning, state figures showed that 79.5% of Washington’s more than 5 million voters returned their ballots for this year’s general election.
That’s still on track to meet election officials’ estimates of 80% turnout this year, and it’s comparable to the 2016 general election when 78.8% of voters participated.
Still, this year’s turnout is lower than other presidential elections in the last two decades.
Both 2020 and 2008 were record highs for turnout in Washington, at around 84% each. In 2012, about 81.3% of eligible residents voted, and in 2004, about 82% voted.
Counties that saw particularly low turnout this year were Adams, Yakima and Franklin counties. In Adams County, only 66.6% of registered residents voted. In Yakima County, only 67.7% of people voted, and in Franklin, just over 70.5% of people voted.
Jefferson, San Juan, Wahkiakum and Kittitas counties had some of the highest voter turnout in the state, all with more than 85% voter participation.
Ballots are still being processed, and those numbers could still go up slightly. Counties must certify election results by Nov. 26.
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