Did you vote in the Washington State primary election? If the answer is yes you are in the minority in Yakima County because a majority of registered voters ignored the ballot.

TUESDAY IS ELECTION CERTIFICATION DAY

It's election certification day which means the primary election is officially over and all the counting is finished. Yakima County Auditor Charles Ross had expected a 25% to 28% turnout for the election but the final number today is 21.18%. That means of the 89,422 ballots that were sent to voters only 18,941 were voted and returned to the Yakima County Auditors Office the others were trashed.

THE AUDITOR SAYS HE SEES VOTER ROLLS GROW EVERY YEAR

Every year Ross says he sees the number of people who don't participate rise. He blames much of that on people being asked whether they want to be a registered voter when getting a drivers license. He says many people answer yes with no intention of ever voting. He says voter rolls grow every year through that sign-up alone and that increases all the numbers including the number of people who ignore elections every year.

MORE PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER

Ross says his office has worked with state officials to increase the number of people who actually vote. The ballot comes in the mail and no stamp is required to place it in the mail. Ross says drop boxes are also in many areas in the county and they're expanding drop boxes every election season.
Ross says he expects a larger turnout for the November general election after the summer is over and families aren't busy with summer activities and vacations. Typically there's a larger turnout for the fall election in the state of Washington.