With a week to go, Thurston County voter turnout was 12 percent

Voters have one week to drop off ballots for the Nov. 7 election.

As of Tuesday, about 12 percent of ballots in Thurston County had been returned. Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall said she expects between 35 percent and 40 percent turnout among the county’s 176,300 registered voters for this election.

“That’s just based on odd-year historic turnout,” Hall said.

Odd-year elections are when there are mostly local races on the ballot, and turnout tends to be lower. Compare that to the 2016 presidential election when 78 percent of Thurston County voters cast a ballot.

Ballots can be dropped off at one of the 27 ballot drop boxes in the county, which are open 24 hours a day but will close at 8 p.m. Nov. 7.

Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 7.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "With a week to go, Thurston County voter turnout was 12 percent."