In a few days, voters who are signed up for absentee ballots for the primary election can start watching for them to arrive in their mailboxes.

King County election officials plan to mail the ballots this Friday, in keeping with the practice of sending them 18 days before an election – in this case, the Aug. 19 primary.

Officials noted voters can check the voter guide lookup feature at www.kingcounty.gov/elections to verify that they’re registered to vote by mail and are eligible to vote.

Voters should allow at least five days for in-county and 10 days for out-of-county mailed ballots to arrive, officials said.

To count in the election’s results, ballots must be signed and postmarked or delivered to the King County elections office by election day. Voters may also return their absentee ballots to their nearest polling place.

Additional information is available from the elections office at (206) 296-8683 and elections@kingcounty.gov.