OLYMPIA — Two weeks out from the Nov. 5 election, Washington voters have returned about 515,000 ballots, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Although early voting has broken records in other states, fewer Washington voters have cast their ballots than they had at this point in the election cycle in 2020, when about 955,000 ballots had been returned.
Nationally, nearly 19 million voters have already cast ballots in the Nov. 5 election, the Associated Press reported.
Washington has had statewide mail-in voting since 2011, and most of its 39 counties had adopted vote-by-mail in prior years. Ballots were sent out Oct. 18.
North Carolina and Georgia both reported record turnout on their first day of in-person early voting, despite the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene. Early turnout is also high in some states that aren’t competitive at the presidential level, such as South Carolina, which reported its own record when it opened early voting Monday.
In addition to electing the next president, Washingtonians are also casting votes for the state’s next governor and on a slate of GOP-backed initiatives covering issues from climate policy to elder care.
You can still register to vote, and you can do so online at votewa.gov, through the mail or in person. You can request to receive a voter registration card through the mail at https://sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-registration/requesting-voter-registration-by-forms-mail, but your card must be completed and received by Oct. 28. Online registrations must also be received by Oct. 28.
You can register in person during business hours and any time before 8 p.m. on Election Day. A map of local elections offices is available at https://sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-registration/-county-elections-offices.
Washington has had a slight uptick in registered voters: It currently has about 4.95 million registered voters, compared to 4.89 million registered during the 2020 general election.
Material from The Associated Press is used in this report.
