What happened
Tuesday, Nov. 3, is Election Day for the 2026 midterms, and control of the U.S. House and Senate is on the ballot. Across the country, more than 50 million people had already voted early as of Saturday morning, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. That’s more than the roughly 45.9 million early votes in the whole 2022 midterm (The Guardian, Scripps News).
Washington votes by mail, so “early” is basically the whole game. As of Friday, nearly 1.7 million ballots, about 32.8% of registered voters, had come back, slightly ahead of the 2022 pace. About 70% came in through drop boxes (FOX 13 Seattle, citing Secretary of State data). The deadline: drop boxes close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day (WA Secretary of State). King County now has 100 drop boxes (King County Elections).
Sky’s take
Eleven years in, an American election still feels like the season finale of a show the whole country argues about. In Washington there’s no dramatic line around the block. The ballot just shows up in the mailbox like a package nobody ordered.
The drop box near my place gets more foot traffic this week than the coffee shop. And the ending is very Hollywood: 8 p.m. sharp, the doors close. No running alongside the train waving your envelope. King County posts one batch of results that night, then updates weekdays at 4 p.m. Cliffhanger. To be continued.
My only spoiler is a boring one. Thousands of Washington ballots have been flagged so far, mostly over signatures that don’t match or are missing (FOX 13). So if you can vote here: sign the envelope, and get it in a box by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Fade to black.