Ballard and Capitol Hill had more say in the primaries. Here's why

Ballard, Fremont, and Green Lake neighborhoods in Seattle: you had the highest voter turnout in last week's primary election.

Those three neighborhoods make up District 6 of the Seattle City Council. Turnout in this district was 11 percent higher than the average turnout in King County.

Voters decided which city council candidates to push through to the general election, but also weighed in on a citywide property tax levy for libraries (which passed) and a King County levy on parks (also passed).

Spokesperson Halei Watkins with King County Elections explains why voters might have been so engaged in Seattle's District 6: They were hearing a lot about the election.

"Races that have lots of candidates and a lot of interest from the media tend to get a lot more voter turnout, so District 6, gosh, they had 13 candidates," she said, referring to the city council race, "so it's kind of no surprise turnout's high."

The second highest turnout was in Seattle's District 3, which covers Capitol Hill and Madison Park. These voters will determine whether to re-elect socialist city council member Kshama Sawant.

Outside of Seattle, Redmond Ridge also had higher-than-the-norm ballot returns.

The average turnout in King County was 34 percent, which was slightly lower than officials projected but still typical for a primary election.

At the high end, about 45 percent of voters in Ballard and Capitol Hill's district voted.

At the low end were voting districts in Auburn and Federal way, which showed a 25 percent turnout.

"You know unfortunately that is pretty typical," Watkins said.

"In south King County turnout tends to be lower than in other parts of the county," she said. "That's one of the reasons why King County Elections has focused on south King County for our outreach and has funded community organizations through our voter education fund."

Auburn and Federal Way, cities in south King County, both had one city council position in the primary, but also voted on the countywide parks levy.

A breakdown of election turnout in each district is available on the county election website.