Washington voters soon will have the chance to have their voices heard by voting in the 2016 state Primary.

County elections officials will be mailing Primary ballots to registered voters around July 15. Military and overseas ballots were sent out June 18.

If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t take part in this important step to winnow down the list of candidates to two in each race for this fall’s General Election.

July 4 is the last day you can register online or via mail to vote in the Primary, or to make updates to your registration status. Registrations sent by mail need to be postmarked by July 4, but remember that the U.S. Postal Service won’t postmark registrations on July 3 (Sunday) or July 4 (holiday). For voter registration forms collected by drives, it’s important to note that those registration forms must arrive in your county elections office or the Office of Secretary of State by July 4 (just remember that county and state offices will be closed July 3-4).

If you miss the July 4 deadline and aren’t registered to vote in Washington, you have until July 25 to do so at your county elections office to vote in the Primary.

The ’16 Primary marks the ninth year in which the voter-approved Top 2 Primary system is being used to winnow down the number of candidates in races.

This year’s Primary voting period ends Aug. 2 and features a U.S. Senate contest and all 10 congressional races. All of the statewide and most legislative seats are on the Primary ballot, as well as many judicial and local positions.

Our Elections Division has produced this nifty online Voters’ Guide. You can also learn more about the Primary candidates by viewing the Video Voters’ Guide produced by TVW.

Primary ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 2 or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Ballots can also be returned to accessible voting centers during business hours.