The primary election in Benton and Franklin counties saw a record number of ballots mailed in but sadly more than 2,000 votes didn't count for one simple reason.

According to local election officials, the number one reason a vote was rejected is that the ballot was mailed late thus making it not count for the primary election.

Of the 2100 voter ballots that were rejected, half of them were rejected because they had arrived late in the mail and didn't make the deadline in time.

It's going to be a crazy election season and the best way to assure that your vote counts, make sure you give yourself plenty of time when mailing in your ballot or drop it off at designated voting boxes around the Tri-Cities.

I once had my ballot come back to me because I forgot to sign the outside envelope so it is possible to make a mistake and not even realize it. I now make sure I double-check and triple-check my ballot before mailing it just to be safe.

According to the Election Officials, 800 late ballots were registered in Benton County while the other late ballots were double the normal late Franklin County ballots at 420.

The good news, voter turnout was up in both counties but as we get closer to the general election, I'd make sure you fill out your ballot early or drop it off at the nearest ballot box to make sure your ballot arrives in time and not get rejected because you didn't get the postmark as needed.

You can check out more details on the late ballots here.

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