Ballots head to voters for the Nov. 4 general election

Voters should be receiving their mail-in ballots for the Nov. 4 general election. Those ballots must be post-marked or dropped into an election ballot box by Nov. 4 to be counted.

Every election is important, says the Washington State Secretary of State Office, which overseas elections in Washington. Eligible voters have the right to make their voice heard in shaping their communities and how their government is run at all levels, city, county, state, and federal.

The November ballot sees races for offices that comprise the nuts and bolts of local government with mayoral, city council, school board, fire district commissioner, hospital commissioner, judge, and county council commissioner being just a few of the races that are on the ballot.

This year’s general election is seeing 2,978 races statewide including 1,067 city positions, 722 school district spots, 444 fire district spots and 127 hospital district positions, according to the Secretary of State Office.

Special elections, which take place in February and April, are held for counties to vote on local offices, propositions, bond, levies and other measures within a community and shape how local government operates.

Primary elections, held in August, utilize a Top two primary system to determine who move on to the general election as well as any other ballot measures.

While most federal elections take place during even years, odd-year elections are important for voters to decide positions at all levels including city and county, school, fire, hospital and state legislative positions, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

To learn more about the upcoming election, go to your county election office to learn what’s on the local ballot:

Snohomish County – https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/224/Elections-Voter-Registration

King County – https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elections

Pierce County – https://www.piercecountywa.gov/328/Elections

Thurston County – https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/auditor/elections

Skagit County – https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/AuditorElections/main.htm

Whatcom County – https://www.whatcomcounty.us/1574/Elections-Voter-Registration

— Photo courtesy of Dan Dennis via Unsplash.