Voter turnout had swelled to 48 percent in Jefferson County and 44 percent in Clallam County by Monday for today’s school levy elections.
Marked ballots are due by 8 p.m. today in special elections for school district levies.
Four public school districts in East Jefferson County — Port Townsend, Chimacum, Quilcene and Brinnon — and one in West Jefferson County — Queets Clearwater — are asking voters to approve property tax levies.
The Crescent School District in Joyce is the lone district requesting a levy in Clallam County.
Ballots must be postmarked by today or placed in official drop boxes by 8 p.m. tonight to be counted.
No elections are countywide.
Ballots were mailed to registered voters in individual districts. Since then, some replacement ballots have been issued.
Voters in the Crescent School District had returned by Monday 782 ballots, or 44.3 percent, of the 1,764 mailed, said Shoona Radon, Clallam County elections supervisor.
The office expects to count tonight all ballots received by noon today, Radon said.
The second count of ballots will be at about noon Friday.
Total ballots returned in the all-mail election in Jefferson County were 10,266 out of 21,281 mailed, a number that does not include replacement ballots. Ninety- were undeliverable.
Tonight’s count will include all received by mail through Tuesday, said Betty Johnson, voter registration coordinator for the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office.
The next count will be at about noon Friday, with a third count, if needed Feb. 23, Johnson said.
Elections will be certified Feb. 28.
Here is the breakdown of voter turnout in individual elections in Jefferson County:
■ In the Port Townsend district, 5,127 ballots, or 47.6 percent, of the 10,773 issued — both those mailed and replacement ballots — had been returned as of Monday.
■ Chimacum district voters had returned 8,231 ballots, or 48.7 percent, of the 8,231 issued.
■ In the Quilcene district, 568 ballots, or 45 percent, of the 1,265 issued had been returned.
■ Brinnon voters had returned 535 ballots, or 56 percent, of the 955 issued.
■ On the West End, voters in the Queets Clearwater district, which serves grades kindergarten through eighth, had returned 31 ballots, or 31 percent, of the 99 issued.
The Crescent, Quilcene, Brinnon and Queets Clearwater public school districts seek maintenance and operations levies that support school programs, while the Port Townsend and Chimacum districts are asking for new capital levies to replace facilities.
In Jefferson County, marked ballots can be mailed or returned to the Auditor’s Office in the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, or dropped into a box in the back parking lot of the courthouse or in the parking lot of the Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock.
In Clallam County, ballots that aren’t mailed can be hand-delivered to the drop box by 8 p.m. or to the Auditor’s Office at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., during regular business hours.
Here are details about the proposed levies:
■ The Crescent School District is requesting voters approve a four-year, $495,713 maintenance and operation expenses replacement levy.
The estimated levy rate would be $1.615 per $1,000 assessed value, or $323 per year for a $200,000 home.
The Crescent School District website is at www.
crescentschooldistrict.org.
■ The Port Townsend School District is asking for a four-year capital levy, a replacement levy that would generate $1,181,500 each year.
The estimated amount per $1,000 assessed value the levy would cost property owners is 51 cents the first year and 58 cents each of the following years.
Information about Port Townsend is available at http://tinyurl.com/2c3yft5.
■ The Chimacum School district is requesting approval of a six-year capital projects levy that would raise $1,325,000 each year for a total of $7,950,000. It is a replacement levy.
The estimated amount per $1,000 assessed value the levy would cost property owners is, in order from 2013 to 2018, 81 cents, 80 cents, 84 cents, 83 cents, 83 cents and 82 cents.
Chimacum’s site is at www.csd49.org.
■ The Quilcene School District is asking voters to approve a four-year maintenance and operations replacement levy that would collect $495,500 its first year and increase to $540,095 the fourth year.
The estimated amount per $1,000 assessed value the levy would cost property owners is, in order from 2012-2013 through 2015-2016, $1.46 the first year, $1.51 the second year, $1.55 the third year and $1.60 the fourth year.
Quilcene has posted information at http://tinyurl.com/7a4srau.
■ The Brinnon School District seeks a two-year property tax levy that would raise $239,653 the first year and $299,526 the second year.
The estimated amount per $1,000 assessed value the levy would cost property owners is $1.08 in 2013 and $1.10 in 2014.
Brinnon has posted information at www.bsd46.org.
■ The Queets Clearwater School District in the West End is requesting a three-year, $75,000 educational program and program replacement levy.
For information about the Clallam County election, phone 360-417-2217, visit www.clallam.net/elections or go to the Auditor’s Office.
For more information about the Jefferson County election, phone 360-385-9119 or email karenc@co.jefferson.wa.us.