Voters who mail their primary election ballots back to the Whatcom County Auditor's Office must ensure the envelope gets a postmark by Aug. 7 for their vote to be counted.

Anybody who thinks they might miss the boat can still deposit their ballots in drop boxes until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Whatcom County currently has more than 118,000 registered voters, and a total of 17,809 ballots had been returned as of 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, according to the Auditor's Office. That's ballots from about 15 percent of registered voters.

"It's not looking good," county Elections Supervisor Pete Griffin said. "This could be a very, very low turnout."

The state Secretary of State's Office has reported similar turnout around the state, he said.

The Auditor's Office has ballot drop boxes throughout the county. To see the locations, as well as for more information on voting, go to WhatcomCounty.us, click on "Auditor" and click on "Election Division."

The Auditor's Office will release the initial tally of election results after 8 p.m. Tuesday on the website.

Reach JARED PABEN at jared.paben@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2289.