Older voters participated more in state's August primary

If the primary-election turnout is any indication, Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi will need to court older voters if they hope to win the governor's race in November.

Results from August's primary found that voter participation increased substantially with age.

Turnout among those 18 to 24 was the lowest, just 18 percent, while turnout for those over age 65 was the highest at 72 percent, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Statewide, 18- to 24-year-olds made up between 2 and 5 percent of all who voted, depending on the county. Voters age 65 and older made up between 27 and 47 percent of all who voted, depending on the county.

In all, there was a 42 percent turnout in the primary, with nearly 1.5 million votes cast. That was a little below the average turnout of 44 percent in a presidential-year primary, but Washington's primary was different this year.

Not only was it moved up to August, but the state also used for the first time its top-two primary system, in which the top two vote-getters go on to the general-election ballot regardless of political party.

Statewide, the highest voter turnout was in Columbia County, at almost 67 percent. Counties with turnout over 60 percent were Jefferson, Lincoln and San Juan.

Fifteen other counties had turnout over 50 percent: Clallam, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Skagit, Stevens and Wahkiakum.

King County reported the lowest turnout in the state, at 35 percent, while Snohomish County had 42 percent and Pierce County 41 percent.

King and Pierce counties are the only two that do not conduct all-mail elections, and that could be one reason why turnout was so low in the two counties.

According to the Secretary of State's Office, there are 452,000 people registered in King and Pierce counties who haven't signed up for absentee ballots. Of those, just 72,356, or 16 percent, went to the polls.

Of the 2.96 million absentee voters in the two counties, 47 percent voted.

David Motz, manager of voter services for the state, can't explain why King County's turnout was so low, but he said it may be because the county still uses polling places.

Voters are more likely to vote "if the ballot is still sitting on the counter at home," Motz said.

Sherril Huff, King County elections director, also said turnout is driven by issues.

"When we have high-profile issues that have received a lot of media attention and for which voters are highly concerned, we experience better participation. Even though the governor's race was on the ballot, voters know the decision will be made with November's vote," Huff said.

Motz said he was surprised that turnout wasn't higher in the primary among young voters, particularly since there's been a surge of voter registration. The secretary of state sends letters to those turning 18, telling them how to register to vote, and Motz said about 20 percent of those residents actually register because of the birthday card.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com