How to follow election results in Washington state, plus last-minute voting tips - Axios SeattleLog InLog InAxios Seattle is an Axios company.

How to follow election results in Washington state

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios It's Election Day — but that all the final outcomes of important races tonight. The big picture: Results in state, local and federal may not be clear for days or weeks. That's not a sign the process isn't working, but reflects the time it takes to process ballots according to each state's rules, Axios' Erin Doherty writes. Zoom in: Here , the most up-to-date results will be available after 8pm on the — or, for local races in Seattle and King County, by 8:15pm on the .More ballots will be counted daily, with results updated throughout the week. State of play: In Washington's , it's not uncommon for tallying to last a week or more before some races are called.That's partly because our ballots don't have to be received by Election Day — they only have to be postmarked by that date to be counted. Halei Watkins, spokesperson for King County Elections, said it's common for the results the county releases on election night to include about half of total returns. Zoom out: Thirty other states impose a stricter ballot-return deadline, requiring ballots to be received by Election Day, according to the . Be smart: If you're a procrastinator, you still have time to return your ballot.To avoid missing the postmark deadline, it's best at this point to return ballots to an official drop box. Here are maps of and .You can return your ballot to a drop box anytime before 8pm. Yes, and: You also can still register to vote, thanks to Washington's same-day registration law.Just show up in-person today at a and you can register and cast your ballot — as long as it's before the 8pm deadline.Your ballot will be counted if your registration info checks out and election officials verify you haven't voted already in another county. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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