Low voter turnout in south county still above county average

Published 9:39 am Friday, November 27, 2015

The voter turnout for the Nov. 3 general election in South Snohomish County was slightly higher than the countywide average.

That doesn’t mean much because the county’s voter turnout — 34.76 percent — is the lowest for a November general election in 44 years. It’s the lowest since 1971, which was only the second year that Washington held November elections in odd-numbered years.

The turnout in the Edmonds School District, which includes Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Woodway, unincorporated areas near those cities and part of Brier was 36.86.

The county canvassing board certified results Tuesday.

Turnout ranged from 30.79 percent in the unincorporated areas that make up Snohomish County Fire District 1 to 51.57 percent in the Edmonds Port District, which includes downtown Edmonds and the town of Woodway. The whole city of Edmonds had a turnout of 46.05 percent; Woodway had a turnout of 45.78 percent; Brier had a turnout of 44.75 percent; Lynnwood had a turnout of 35 percent; and the turnout in Mountlake Terrace was 32.04 percent.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.