2 weeks Ago
Roughly a quarter of Lewis County’s registered voters have returned their ballots, according to data from the Washington Secretary of State's (SOS) office, though turnout lags behind the pace set in the last presidential election. A little more than a week before the election closes, 15,479 of the 56,895 voters in the county have returned their ballots, with 15,342 accepted, a turnover rate of 27.21% so far.
About 1% of voters, or 137 people, have had their ballots challenged so far, according to SOS. So far, the turnout rate is considerably lower in Lewis County than in the 2020 election. Eleven days before the 2020 election, 45% of registered voters had already submitted their ballots.
During the 2020 election, which had the highest rate for any national election since 1900, 84.2% of Lewis County voters submitted returned ballots. According to Pew Research, about two-thirds of eligible residents voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Voting across Washington state also lags behind the pace set four years ago. With 11 days to go in the 2020 campaign, 38.77% of voters had returned their ballots, compared to the 22.
55% statewide who have done so thus far. So far, voter demographics have skewed older across the state, with 39.7% of voters above 65 years old returning their ballot so far, compared to 8.
9% of voters between the ages of 18 and 24 voting. If voters submit their ballots by mail, completed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 5, and the United States Postal Service advises that voters mail their ballots one week before the election.
During a visit to Lewis County last week, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said voters who wait to submit their ballots on election day should deposit their ballots at either a ballot drop box or at the county auditor’s office, rather than dropping them in a mailbox. “Because what happens is, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘OK, I’ve got to put it in the mailbox and it’ll be postmarked before 8 p.m.
,’” Hobbs said. “But here’s the deal: If your mail carrier showed up an hour early, then it won’t be picked up until the next day and your vote will not count.” To find the ballot drop box nearest you, visit https://elections.
lewiscountywa.gov ..
