Ballots for the November election are on their way, and so is a new local voter’s guide

Ballots for the November general election are on their way.

The Spokane County Auditor’s Office will mail out about 350,000 ballots for the Nov. 8 election throughout the week. About 178,000 were mailed out on Wednesday with most of the rest going out Thursday, Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said.

State law requires that counties send out ballots no later than Oct. 21.

“People should start seeing ballots in their mailboxes,” Dalton said.

This election, voters will get to choose between candidates for a number of federal, statewide and local races, including U.S. Senator, Congressional representative, Secretary of State and County Commissioner.

Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to turn in their ballots. Voters can return their ballots by mail or at drop boxes, which are located throughout the county. Drop boxes will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day. If voting by mail, a voter’s ballot must be postmarked by Nov. 8, so be sure to check pick-up times on mailboxes.

Those who are not yet registered to vote can do so online or by mail by Oct. 31, or in person up to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

More information on how to register to vote, where to turn in ballots and how to track ballots can be found at VoteWA.gov.

Something new this year is the addition of a local voters pamphlet, put together by the county auditor’s office, Dalton said. The local voters pamphlet is in addition to the statewide voter pamphlet, which the secretary of state puts out.

Both voter guides have likely already hit most people’s mailboxes, she said.

Dalton encouraged voters to turn in their ballots earlier rather than later. As usual, she said they are expecting a large surge in ballot returns closer to the election.

There’s a big peak after the first weekend that ballots are out, then a lull until the week before and days after the election, she said.

“We want to just remind people to get their ballots in quickly,” Dalton said. “It helps us be able to get things processed.”