Four fast facts before Spokane's election results are official

We cast our ballots by Nov. 7, but now what?
The Spokane County Elections Office is working toward the Nov. 28 certification of the election. Here are a few things to know as we're less than two weeks from seeing the final official results.

BALLOTS LEFT TO COUNT
According to the election office's website, there are 25 ballots left to count out of the more than 150,000 ballots that were cast this time around. Elections Manager Mike McLaughlin says that these 25 ballots made it past the signature verification process and were accepted, but just did not get counted yet. They'll be tallied with the batch that had signature issues that get resolved.

SIGNATURE VERIFICATION
Almost 1,300 ballots have yet to be accepted, McLaughlin says. This is because the signature on the ballot envelope either didn't match the signature in a voter's registration file, or was nonexistent. People who turned in these ballots should have received a signature update form from the elections office in the mail.

These need to be filled out and returned directly to the county election office, or returned by email, fax or mail, by 4 pm, Monday, Nov. 27. If folks have any issues with returning their signature update forms, they should reach out to the office at 509-477-2320. The ballots that are verified will be counted in the final batch that day.

VOTER TURNOUT
Less than half of the 363,000 registered voters in Spokane County voted in the recent election. With a total of 155,164 ballots cast, voter turnout was about 43%. Last year's general election, which included races for Congress and the state Legislature, along with many county positions, recorded a 62% voter turnout.

TAKING OFFICE
Newly elected officials can be sworn in anytime after the election has been certified. Most are sworn in at the first meeting of the new year, but other positions, like the school board trustee for Spokane Public Schools, will be sworn in at their first meeting in December.