Voters Under 35 Account For Just 10% Of Ballots Returned In King County So Far

Young people: This is fucking serious.

The 2025 election could be a huge shift in the balance of power at City Hall — voters could kick out our MAGA Republican City Attorney, banish the most incompetent council president in the City’s history, and elect Seattle’s first progressive Mayor in over a decade. All the challengers taking up the left lane beat the centrist incumbents in the primary, but they only win the whole thing if you show up by Nov. 4 at 8pm. And so far, a little more than a week from election day, young people aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. 

According to King County Elections ballot return statistics, only 7.78% of registered voters have cast a ballot so far. Of course, that number will continue to climb until election day. For instance, almost 40% of ballots came in on election day for the August primary, according to county data. 

But still, election after election, young people turn out at much lower rates than older people.

As of Monday morning, only about 9,000 people or 3.47% of registered voters between the ages of 25-34 and just 2,700 or 2.05% of registered voters ages 18-24 have returned a ballot. In total, 10.8% of ballots cast so far come from voters under 35.

By contrast, voters 55 and older account for 65.6% of all ballots cast so far. And the power still mostly lies with seniors — 48.9% of all ballots come from voters 65 and older. That’s a serious overrepresentation considering that demographic only accounts for about 13% of the population, according to County data. 

Historically, younger voters turn in their ballots later, but the underrepresented persists. In the August primary, voters under 35 made up 17% of ballots cast while voters 55 and over accounted for 52% of ballots cast. 

And guess who that underrepresentation helps: conservatives. According to new polling for the Northwest Progressive Institute, progressive Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson is much more popular with young people than incumbent Bruce Harrell. The poll found that 75% of respondents under 35 support Wilson while only 17% support Harrell. The most overrepresented age demographic in our political system, voters 65 and older, picked Harrell at a rate of 59% and Wilson at 24%. 

Young people will be key to Wilson’s victory. Recent polling from The Stranger shows that Wilson and Harrell are “statistically tied.” Wilson’s campaign said they “interpret this data to mean that if our supporters turn out to vote, [they] will win the race. But that means our supporters need to show up to win this race!”

Ballot boxes close Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 8pm. Be there.