Let’s Compare!
Although the election is not yet final in Washington state (won’t be until certified on November 27th), the Kittitas County voter turnout is already above 76%. That means 3 out of 4 voters actually completed and turned in ballots!
In the 2016 presidential election, some of the lowest voter turnout numbers included Central Washington University campus and surrounding precincts. In 2017 and 2018, the Kittitas Valley LWV in partnership with Associated Students of Central Washington University focused on registering and turning out voters on CWU campus and its immediate neighbors to improve those stats. So let’s look at the early numbers:
2016 Precinct Turnout
Ellensburg 18 (CWU) = 26%
Ellensburg 19 = 49.77%
Ellensburg 2 = 56.68%
Ellensburg 15 = 70.69%
Ellensburg 16 = 59.36%
Ellensburg 17 = 46.73%
Ellensburg 20 = 59.18%
2018 Precinct Turnout*
Ellensburg 18 (CWU) = 76% +50
Ellensburg 19 = 79.9% +30.13
Ellenburg 2 = 63.3% +6.62
Ellensburg 15 = 64.7% -5.99
Ellensburg 16 = 71.3% +11.94
Ellensburg 17 = 71.2% +24.47
Ellensburg 20 = 77.1% +17.92
Holy moly, can we just say…
WOW! Way to go E’burg 18!
*CAVEAT #1: Keep in mind that since the election is not yet certified, the turnout rate for 2018 shown above is a mid-count snapshot and can still change. (We hope that means Ellensburg 15 ends up beating its 2016 level.)
CAVEAT #2: Political parties and progressive organizations such as Fuse and Indivisible also worked hard to improve Kittitas County registered voter numbers and turnout in 2018.
Since the Washington statewide turnout currently tops 71%, the 2018 election clearly benefited from a motivated electorate. We cannot in good conscience take responsibility for the record-busting turnout this year.
However, we take pride and a small amount of credit in the giant improvement in the campus turnout of Ellensburg 18 precinct. Way to go, volunteers, and especially – CWU Students!
Go Cats!
The data cited in this post came from Kittitas County Auditor (2016) and VoteWashington.info/voter/wa/ks (2018).