The ballots are coming, the ballots are coming. On Thursday, nearly 400,000 of them will be mailed to voters in Snohomish County for the Aug. 7 primary. County officials are able to predict when ballots will be returned based on past elections. The return flow has been pretty much unchanged since 2006, when the county switched to all-mail balloting. Below is a chart of when Snohomish County expects to receive ballots for this primary. You can also download the PDF at right to see a more visual representation of the prediction.
Within a week of their mailing, about 25 percent of ballots will be marked and returned for counting. Nearly half the votes will be cast before Election Day.
Figures in the chart are based on 400,000 ballots being issued and 176,000 returned for a turnout of 44 percent.
By law, ballots received more than 14 days after the election will not be counted, leaving as many as 136 uncounted.
If you are wondering why ballots are mailed Thursday but the county won’t start tracking their return until next Monday, July 23, the answer is because the county is closed on weekends. What arrives Saturday is not picked up until Monday.
Implications for campaigning
How fast do you send back your ballot for counting? Right away? On Election Day? Somewhere in between? Turns out voters do it all three ways, adding a degree of difficulty for candidates trying to reach them at just the right time.
When everyone voted at polling places, there always seemed to be a concentration of mailers and commercials in the final four days of the election as candidates sought to make a final impression on voters. With everyone voting by mail and half the votes cast before Election Day, candidates carefully time advertising and direct-mail campaigns to reach the most people near the time of their decisions.
Track your own ballot
You can find out when your ballot is received. A link will be added to the Snohomish County elections home page at www.snoco.org/elections.
Projected pattern of ballot return, 2012 primary election
| Date | Ballots expected |
|---|---|
| Monday, July 23, 2012 | 1,046 |
| Tuesday, July 24, 2012 | 9,671 |
| Wednesday, July 25, 2012 | 11,985 |
| Thursday, July 26, 2012 | 13,416 |
| Friday, July 27, 2012 | 7,897 |
| Saturday, July 28, 2012 | 0 |
| Sunday, July 29, 2012 | 0 |
| Monday, July 30, 2012 | 9,550 |
| Tuesday, July 31, 2012 | 12,555 |
| Wednesday, Aug. 01, 2012 | 9,249 |
| Thursday, Aug. 02, 2012 | 7,503 |
| Friday, Aug. 03, 2012 | 7,495 |
| Saturday, Aug. 04, 2012 | 0 |
| Sunday, Aug. 05, 2012 | 0 |
| Monday, Aug. 06, 2012 | 14,888 |
| Tuesday, Aug. 07, 2012 | 23,822 |
| Wednesday, Aug. 08, 2012 | 31,896 |
| Thursday, Aug. 09, 2012 | 13,085 |
| Friday, Aug. 10, 2012 | 799 |
| Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012 | 6 |
| Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012 | 0 |
| Monday, Aug. 13, 2012 | 157 |
| Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 | 275 |
| Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 | 104 |
| Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 | 104 |
| Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 | 357 |
| Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012 | 0 |
| Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 | 0 |
| Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 | 5 |
| Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012 | 116 |
| Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012 | 17 |
| Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 | 3 |
| Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 | 0 |
| Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 | 0 |
| Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012 | 0 |
| Monday, Aug. 27, 2012 | 0 |
| Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012 | 0 |
| Total for 44% turnout | 176,000 |
SOURCE: Snohomish County Auditor
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
