The 2018 Midterm Election is now in the rearview mirror—at least here in Thurston County—and I want to take some time to thank my Elections team.

We saw a dramatic increase in turnout compared to the last midterm in 2014, making this a midterm election with near presidential election turnout. In total, our Elections team counted 126,031, just 10,000 ballots less than the 2016 Presidential Election and more than 40,000 ballots higher than the last midterm election in 2014. 

More impressive—the team was able to reconcile ballots to 0, which means every ballot that came into our possession through drop boxes and the post office were accounted for in the final tally.

It may sound easy, but anytime you have 126,031 of anything passing through multiple steps and hands, it's an impressive feat. It also reflects the outstanding processes and procedures our team has in place to ensure every valid ballot is counted.

So thank you to our amazing Election team and thank you to Thurston County voters for turning out in such high numbers for the 2018 Midterm Election—this is what democracy is all about!