Spokane County reports unprecedented early returns of ballots
That was just part a busy first Monday after the county mailed out more than 300,000 ballots last Wednesday and Thursday. The mail delivery after the first weekend brings returns from early voters who have marked and posted their ballots of the states all-mail system and can be an indicator of voter interest.
Mondays mail delivery brought some 7,500 ballots far more than the first Mondays in last two midterm elections or the the 2012 and 2016 presidential election.
What were seeing is a level of intensity that we havent seen
possibly since 2008, she said. That was the presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain.
When the ballots from drop boxes were added in late in the afternoon, Mondays total stood at 13,005, which was even higher than the 9,093 for election year 2008. Even though the county has almost 60,000 more voters than 10 years ago, the percentage of ballots turned in so far this year is slightly higher.
I think its everything thats on the ballot, Dalton said, including a competitive congressional race, controversial ballot issues and news coverage of national politics. People are just engaged at a level we have not seen in a while.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/oct/23/my-dog-ate-my-ballot/