King County voters are returning ballots at a greater rate than projected for the first week of the primary election. More than 100,000 ballots have already been returned and elections officials are busy processing them. As in all elections, there are some ballots that can’t be opened because of problems associated with voter signatures.

“It’s really helpful that voters are getting their ballots mailed back to us early,” noted Sherril Huff, elections director. “The top two reasons some ballots never get counted are due to being mailed back to us too late or the voter forgetting to sign the oath on the back of the return envelope.”

In the previous election, almost 6,000 ballots could not be counted for these reasons.

Voters are reminded that the oath on the back of the return envelope needs to be signed in order for their ballot to be opened and counted. Elections contacts voters with signature problems to try to resolve them in time to be counted. If you are contacted by the elections department, respond promptly to clear up any problems. Problems can be corrected even if election day has passed; voters have about two weeks past election day to resolve issues with their signature.