Voter turnout looking even lower in Washington as primary election day arrives

With the primary election less than 24 hours from closing, voter turnout not only remains low in Spokane County and across Washington, it’s lagging even further behind 2020 turnout than it was last week.

Less than 21% of Washington voters had submitted their ballots as of Monday evening, down from over 29% in 2020, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s website. Just over 20% of registered Spokane County residents have voted, compared to 28.5% in 2020; while there are 27,000 more voters registered in Spokane County this year than in 2020, 23,000 fewer votes have been cast so far in this election compared to four years ago.

Washington’s top-two primary system advances the two candidates who earn the most votes to the November general election, regardless of party. If margins are tight, low turnout could play an important role in determining who advances in some races.

With no public polling data available, it’s unclear what effect low turnout could have on the race to represent Eastern Washington in Congress, which is one of the most crowded fields in the state this year.

Elsewhere in the large 5th Congressional District, voter turnout is even lower compared to 2020. In Walla Walla County, roughly 16.5% of voters have submitted a ballot, compared to 32.4% in 2020. In Stevens County, 22% of voters have voted, compared to 32.8% in 2020.

Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle, a Republican running for the hotly contested congressional seat, speculated Monday that lingering doubts about election integrity may be depressing the Republican vote. He and Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner were the only Republican candidates for the seat to forcefully state on the debate stage that President Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020, for example.

“Obviously on the conservative side, we’re fighting against people thinking elections are rigged, trying to help give people confidence that our election system is still mostly fair,” Bingle said.

Conversely, Baumgartner believes 2020’s turnout may have been bolstered by frustrations over mask mandates and pandemic-era lockdowns. He suggested that Democratic turnout may have gotten a boost in recent weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, despite presidential candidates not appearing on the August primary ballots.

“We as Republicans need to counter that,” he added.

Baumgartner also speculated that the number of races with numerous candidates, including his race for Congress but also for Senate and governor, may be causing some decision paralysis.

“The number of candidates on those races and the lack of name familiarity, particularly with U.S. senator candidates and to less extent the gubernatorial candidates, that delays ballots, because a lot of people feel like they need to fill out every circle,” Baumgartner said. “I think that’s impacting Republican turnout to some extent.”

Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton, whose office oversees elections in the county, concurred that voters seem to be hesitant to weigh in on hotly contested races when they’re not familiar with every candidate. She encouraged undecided voters to weigh in on the races they have firm opinions on and leave the others blank if necessary.

Voters submitting their ballots on primary election day either need to deposit them before 8 p.m. in a drop box, which are located throughout the county at public libraries, city halls and many other public buildings, or in a post box before the last pickup of the day, which may be earlier than 8 p.m.