SEATTLE (AP) - More than 420,000 voters in Washington state have sent in their presidential primary ballots two weeks before the votes will be counted.
The secretary of state’s office said about 9.4% of registered voters in the state cast their ballots as of Wednesday, the Seattle Times reported. More than 92,000 ballots, representing 7% of registered voters, were collected in King County.
Ballots were mailed to voters last week.
People were interested in these podcasts
About 220,000 votes for one of the 13 Democratic candidates were cast compared with about 185,000 votes for the Republican ballot, which only has President Donald Trump.
The presidential primary is the only election in which Washington state voters have to choose a party in order to have ballots count, by signing partisan declarations on the ballot envelope.
Many voters have raised concerns about declaring their party preference. Residents have an independent streak and have long resisted partisan registration and closed primaries.
About 13,000 voters have sent in ballots without signing either the Democratic or Republican declaration, invalidating their votes, officials said. County elections officials expect to contact those voters and give them a chance to correct their ballots.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.