Here’s how Thurston County voted in the 2024 presidential primary Tuesday

Thurston County voters overwhelmingly backed President Joe Biden in early returns for the Democratic Party presidential primary Tuesday despite a push for a protest vote.

Biden received 86.4% of the vote (23,660 votes) in the Democratic Party primary, according to early results from the Thurston County Auditor’s Office. The remaining tallies in the Democratic Party primary were in the single-digit percentages.

Notably, 6.5% of county voters (1,781) selected the “uncommitted delegates” option in early returns. Some progressives had called on voters to select that option as a protest vote over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and its devastating impact on Palestinian civilians.

Former President Donald Trump earned 72.6% of Thurston County votes (18,123 votes) in the Republican Party primary, according to early results. The runner up was Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador. She received 22.7% of the votes (5,676 votes) tallied Tuesday night.

Tuesday night’s ballot count represented 26.4% of Thurston County’s 198,284 registered voters, according to the county Auditor’s Office. However, the turnout will rise as more ballots arrive. About 10,250 ballots were still left to be counted.

Comparatively, about 49% of Thurston County’s then 189,450 registered voters turned out for the 2020 presidential primary. Biden lost that contest among Thurston County voters to current Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Auditor Mary Hall said the election has gone well so far. She had not expected high turnout for the primary given the options on the ballot this year.

“We’ve got an incumbent running for re-election and we have the former president,” Hall said. “All of the other candidates have dropped out of the race. Four years ago, you still had other candidates that were viable in the race at the time of our primary.”

One difference with the presidential primary election is that voters must indicate their party preference by checking a box. If a ballot lacks a checked box, Hall said her office treats those as challenged ballots.

That means her office sends the affected voter a letter with a form that gives them a chance to check their party preference again, she said.

“I think it’s important for voters to know that the choice they made this election has no impact on how they vote in future elections,” Hall said. “If they chose a particular party to vote for, that doesn’t mean they have to vote for that party in November.”

Statewide, Biden had received 85.7% of the vote (559,996 votes) in Democratic Party primary returns as of Wednesday morning, according to Washington Secretary of State website. Voters who chose “uncommitted delegates” made up 7.4% of the vote statewide (48,619 votes).

Meanwhile, Trump received 73.8% of the vote (442,048 votes) in the statewide Republican Party primary, according to the Secretary of State. About 21.6% of Republican voters (129,394) selected Haley.

Both Biden and Trump now have secured enough delegates to earn their respective party’s nominations after winning similar contests in other states.