Young People: Don't Leave The Election Up To Retirees

Young people: You have one more day until an election day that could land Seattle a new, lefty Mayor, a City Attorney who's not a Republican, and a more progressive City Council. And it looks like you’re holding onto those ballots until the last minute! 

According to King County Elections ballot return statistics, only 16.18% 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 as I continue to scream into my janky ass flip phone, even though the County will see a sharp influx of ballots, history shows that young people always turn out at much lower rates than older people.

As of Monday morning, only about 22,000 people or 8.22% of registered voters between the ages of 25-34 and just 7,000 or 5.27% of registered voters ages 18-24 have returned a ballot. In total, just 12.5% of ballots cast so far come from voters under 35.

By contrast, voters 55 and older account for 61.5% of all ballots cast so far. And the power still mostly lies with seniors — 44.2% 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. 

Again, this will shift slightly as we approach 8pm on November 4, but the underrepresentation will persist. For example, voters under 35 made up 17% of ballots cast while voters 55 and over accounted for 52% of ballots cast in the August 2025 primary. 

This disparity typically helps more conservative candidates and recent polling from the Northwest Progressive Institute shows that trend holds in the race for Mayor. The poll found that 75% of respondents under 35 support progressive Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson while only 17% support Mayor Bruce 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%. 

Even with the historic underrepresentation of youth voters, polls seem to favor a Wilson victory. Still, that only happens if people show up to the ballot box. Ballot boxes close Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 8pm. Be there.