2024 Primary Election Results

Compiled by Bill McCallum – from information on the Washington Secretary of State, the state Public Disclosure Commission and the Federal Election Commission websites. Also, he compiled information from the Whatcom County Auditor’s website, with thanks to Amy Grasher and Rebecca Rouse in the Whacom County Auditor’s office.

Primary Election – August 6, 2024

http://whatcomwatch.org/wpww2/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-primary-election1-large2-1layer-hires.pdf

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Whatcom County Primary Elections
Turnout and Voting at Home 1980 – 2024

The state Legislature passed legislation in 1985 to allow all registered voters over the age of 65 and those with disabilities to request all ballots be mailed to their home. In 1993, the Legislature voted to permit all registered voters to request every ballot be mailed to their home. By 2002, five rural counties were conducting all elections by mail. Whatcom County adopted voting at home in 2005. All public elections in the state are now conducted by mailing ballots to homes.

Return Envelopes Challenged

Below are the reasons ballots were rejected and the number of rejections for the last five primary elections. The most common reason for rejection, by far, was an envelope with a late postmark. The statistics are from the Canvassing Board Reconciliation Report. The statistics represent the difference between envelopes received and ballots counted.

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State/Local Election Statistics

Sixteen of the 39 counties in the state had a higher primary election turnout than Whatcom County. The four counties with the highest turnout were Jefferson at 57.98 percent, San Juan at 56.28 percent, Wahkiakum at 53.25 percent, and Clallam at 51.56 percent. The four counties in the state with the lowest turnout were Adams at 31.54 percent, Franklin at 32.01 percent, Yakima at 33.61 percent, and Grant at 35.50 percent.

Daily Envelope Count

The Whatcom County auditor’s office mailed 162,389 primary election ballots to registered voters; 1,690 were undeliverable. Of the 72,681 envelopes counted, a little over half — 37,708 or 51.90 percent — of the envelopes were returned before election day. Total rejected ballots: 681 or 0.9 percent of the 72,681 envelopes returned.