King County voters have begun mailing their ballots in and are, in fact, beating the Elections Department estimates for projected daily returns. As of today, more than 120,000 ballots have been mailed back to Elections — about 10,000 more than anticipated by this date.

Evelyn Arnold, superintendent of Elections noted, “We base our projections on voter behavior from previous elections to help us prepare for each upcoming election. We’re always pleased when voters exceed our expectations by getting their ballots back to us earlier than expected because it allows us to report a higher count on election day.”

The projected return for the Feb. 9 special election is 35 percent or about 350,000 votes. Ballot counting begins at 8 p.m. on election day and first reporting of results is posted at 8:15 p.m. on the Elections Web site

“It would be wonderful to see this trend continue,” said Arnold. “There are many important decisions being made in this election and we hope to see more ballots come in than projected each and every day.”

To find out if the ballot you mailed back to Elections has been received and your signature verified, go to the Elections Web site and try out the “mail ballot tracking” tool. Voters have until election day to postmark their ballots. Ballots can also be returned in person by 8 p.m. on election day to one of the two ballot drop-off locations listed on the Web site.