Tri-Cities voter turnout was the highest in a decade. What changed?

Tri-Cities voters cast ballots last week in numbers that haven’t been seen in more than 10 years.

In Benton County, elections officials reported a 52.7% voter turnout. And in Franklin County it was close to 47.6%.

The last time it was that high was in 2008, when there was a troubled economy and a continuing war..

That year, Benton County turnout was 50%, and Franklin County was 53%.

Primary election turnout in both counties average 30% in the 12 years since then.

“We’re really excited about the turnout we had in this election,” said Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton. “What we’re seeing statewide is going to be a record.”

Washington state reported the highest primary turnout in more than five decades, with 55% of the state’s 4.6 million voters returning ballots, reported The Associated Press.

Locally, auditors said several factors contributed to this year’s jump — anger over Gov. Jay Inslee’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, four tightly-contested county commission races and an open seat for state senate following Maureen Walsh’s retirement.

Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton said he heard from many voters angry with the government’s intrusion into people’s daily lives over the coronarivus pandemic.

Also, Washington state made voting in the primary easier this year. Voters were able to register up to and on election day.

Benton County has about 118,000 registered voters and Franklin county has 39,000.

While party leaders couldn’t go door to door registering people, they turned to phone calling.

Benton County Democratic Party Chair Judi Johannesen said the party made more than 700,000 calls statewide.

Franklin County Democratic Party Chairman Jeffrey Robinson said candidates from both sides took to phones and held Zoom meetings to reach voters.

“By and large, they have a receptive audience,” he said. “It’s very clear that people are listening and people are looking into things, and voters are turning out. That is something that we should all be proud of.”

Republican party heads in Benton and Franklin counties did not respond to requests for comment.

Inslee, COVID, Black Lives Matter

Across the state, there seemed to be a surge in Republican voters, said Central Washington University Professor Todd Schaefer.

He said the upheaval caused by COVID-19 mixed with a 15 Republican candidates challenging Inslee, a Democrat, in the gubernatorial race. In all, there were 35 candidates for governor on the ballot.

“We see higher turnout in bad climates,” he said. “When people are mad, they vote.”

University of Washington Assistant Professor Jacob Grumbach said that the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the state also likely played a role.

In the Tri-Cities, Leo Perales was at many of the local Black Lives Matter protests registering voters.

He said he signed up 200 before the primary.

The vice chairman of Consejo Latino said they are hoping to sign up 1,000 new voters before November.

He said people gave a variety of reasons why they decided to register, including the federal government’s poor response to the coronavirus pandemic, distressing economic issues and because they wanted their voices heard over recent civil unrest.

Whatever the individual motivation of voters, the experts agreed they expect November’s voter turnout to be just as high.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.