North Olympic Peninsula registered voters will start receiving their ballots for the Aug. 3 primary election by the end of the week after ballots are mailed Wednesday.
Not all residents will receive a ballot in the upcoming primary. Ballots go to voters in the districts in which elections are being held.
The top-two primary election narrows the field from three or more candidates to two who will face each other in the November general election.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office will mail about 53,870 ballots on Wednesday, Election Manager Susan Johnson said.
Jefferson County will mail about 15,458 ballots, said Quinn Grewell, elections coordinator.
Ballots must be either postmarked by Aug. 3 or returned to a ballot box or Auditor’s Office by 8 p.m. Aug. 3.
Clallam County has nine races on the ballot. One will be a beauty contest: Jon Bruce withdrew too late for his name to be removed from the ballot, so Mayor Kate Dexter will face John Procter on the general election ballot for Position 4 no matter what the results are in the primary.
Dominating the ballot are the Port Angeles City Council races, four in all. Position 1 appointed office holder LaTrisha Suggs faces John DeBoer and Adam Garcia. Position 2 incumbent Mike French is challenged by Samantha Rodahl and John Madden. Position 3 incumbent Lindsay Schromen-Wawrin faces Jason Thompson and Jena Stamper.
One Olympic Medical Center commission race is on the ballot. Heather Jeffers, Karen Rogers and Steven C. Blackham are vying to fill the six-year position now held by Jim Leskinovitch, who is not seeking re-election.
Competing to fill the Forks City Council Position 2 seat being vacated by John Hillcar are Clinton W. Wood, Barbra Neihouse and Josef Echeita.
Two school board races are on the primary ballot, one each in Port Angeles and Sequim.
Four candidates are aiming to fill the Position 2 seat on the Port Angeles School Board, which is now held by longtime board member Cindy Kelly, who is not seeking re-election. They are Mary Hebert, Jean Stratton, Jesse Charles and Gabi Johnson.
Four also are competing for the Sequim School Board Position 4 seat, now held by Brandino Gibson, who is not seeking reelection.
They are Derek Huntington, Virginia Sheppard, Rachel Tax and Kristi Schmeck.
Clallam County Fire District 3, which serves a small portion of East Jefferson County, has Jeff Nicholas, Sean Ryan and Duane Charnlee competing for the Position 1 seat now held by Michael Gawley.
Voters can register in person up to 8 p.m. on Aug. 3 to vote in the primary election at the county Auditor’s Office.
Voters also can register online and by mail until July 26. To register online, voters can go to voter.votewa.gov. Mailed registration must be received by the Auditor’s Office by July 26.
A voter registration and a voters guide tailored to the ballot is at voter.votewa.gov.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office is located at 223 E 4th St., Suite 1, in Port Angeles. Voting accommodations are available. For information, call 360-417-2221.
If mailing the ballot on Aug. 3, it is recommended to have post office officials manually postmark the envelope to guarantee that it won’t be considered late and hence invalid once it arrives at the Auditor’s Office.
Ballot drop boxes are open 24 hours a day until 8 p.m. Aug. 3
Ballot drop box locations for Clallam County:
• Carlsborg — 261461 U.S. Highway 101 near Sunny Farms, adjacent to Mill Road.
• Clallam Bay — 16990 state Highway 112 in front of the Clallam Bay Branch Library.
• Forks — 500 E. Division St. outside of Forks City Hall.
• Neah Bay — 1450 Bayview Ave. in front of Washburn’s General Store.
• Port Angeles — 223 E. 4th St. in the courthouse circular drive, as well as a second one directly across from the disabled parking.
• Sekiu — 15 Sekiu Airport Road at the Public Utility District’s drive-up lane.
• Sequim — 651 W. Washington St. in the parking lot near JC Penney.
For more information, see http://www.clallam.net/Auditor/Elections.html.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to this story.
