Outcomes remain the same in Clallam ballot count

PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 90 late-arriving ballots Thursday in the fifth count of the primary election.

No primary races flipped Thursday when the additional ballots were tabulated in the all-mail election.

The Aug. 6 primary election — which determines the top two vote-getters who will advance to the general election — will be certified in a Canvassing Board meeting Tuesday.

The Canvassing Board also will meet in a pre-certification meeting Monday.

Both meetings will begin at 1 p.m. in the Election Center in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

The next ballot count will be on Monday, Clallam County Elections Manager Becky Pettigrew said Thursday.

“We’re caught up and so this will be the last count for this week,” Pettigrew said in a Thursday email.

“What will be left to count on Monday before the Canvassing Board meeting will be anything else that was mailed by Election Day but took a while to get to us (such as from our military and overseas voters), along with any more ballots that had been challenged (such as for the voter forgetting to sign their ballot) but that were later ‘cured’ by the voter submitting a signed form to us.”

The top-two vote-getters in the primary advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

In the closest primary contest, Brendan Meyer defeated former Port Angeles resident Tara Martin Lopez by 17 votes in the race for second place for Port Angeles City Council Position 7.

Martha Cunningham won the most votes: 1,222. Meyer had 917 votes and Lopez had 900.

Meyer and Lopez were separated by 14 votes after the fourth count last Friday.

Lopez moved to New Mexico to pursue a job opportunity last month after her name was affixed to the primary ballot.

As of Thursday, Meyer and Lopez were separated by 0.94 percent of the votes cast in their head-to-head matchup.

State law requires an automatic recount if two candidates are separated by less than 0.5 percent, County Auditor Shoona Riggs has said.

Here is where the other Clallam County races stood after Thursday’s tabulation.

• Charlie McCaughan and Doc Robinson advanced to the general election in the race for Port Angeles City Council Position 5.

McCaughan had 1,565 votes, Robinson had 850 votes and Artur Wojnowski had 645 votes.

• Mike Gilstrap and Danny Smith will vie for Forks City Council Position 5.

Gilstrap had 207 votes, Smith had 155 votes and Christina Kohout had 53 votes.

• Ann Marie Henninger and Nate Adkisson were leading Warren Pierce in the race for a Sequim-area Olympic Medical Center commissioner seat.

Henninger had 8,340 votes, Adkisson had 3,328 votes and Pierce had 2,526 votes.

• Steve Hopf and Keith Cortner will be on the general election ballot in the race for Clallam County Fire District No. 2 commissioner.

Hopf had 986 votes, Cortner had 409 votes and Richard Ruud had 221 votes.

• In a beauty race for the Sequim-area District 1 Clallam County commission seat, Mark Ozias, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Brandon Janisse 5,217 votes to 3,332 votes.

Ozias and Janisse each advanced to the general election.

Partisan races must be included on the top-two primary ballots even if only two candidates have filed.

Ozias’s primary victory means his name will appear first on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Countywide voter turnout was 30.81 percent as of Thursday.

The Auditor’s Office had received 15,702 of the 50,956 ballots mailed to registered voters.

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.

More in News

KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
June Ward, 10, examines a wooden paddle she is decorating as her father, Jack Ward of Port Angeles, works on his own paddle during a craft-making session on Friday at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center in Port Angeles. The paddles are among the thousands of gifts being created for participants in the 2025 Tribal Canoe Journey, hosted this year by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The event begins with the landing of dozens of native canoes at the mouth of the Elwha River on July 31 and continues with five days of celebration on the Lower Elwha reservation west of Port Angeles. As many as 10,000 indigenous peoples are expected to take part. The public is invited to help with giftmaking sessions, scheduled daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Heritage Center.
Canoe paddle crafts

June Ward, 10, examines a wooden paddle she is decorating as her… Continue reading

Ralph Henry Keil and Ginny Grimm.
Long lost sailor to be honored at graduation

An honorary diploma will be presented to the family of… Continue reading

Singers to workshop vocal instruments at Fort Worden

One hundred and fifty singers to join together in song

Jefferson County fire danger risk level to move to high

Designation will prohibit fireworks over Fourth of July weekend

Candidate forums to be presented next week

The League of Women Voters of Clallam County and… Continue reading

Port Townsend City Council candidate forum set for next month

The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County will… Continue reading

Jefferson County to host series of community conversations

Jefferson County will conduct a series of Community Conversations… Continue reading

Denise Thornton of Sequim deadheads roses on a flower display at the Sequim Botanical Garden at the Water Reuse Demonstration Park at Carrie Blake Park on Wednesday in Sequim. Thornton, a volunteer gardener, was taking part in a work party to maintain the beauty of the garden. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Rose display

Denise Thornton of Sequim deadheads roses on a flower display at the… Continue reading

Electric rates see big increase

Jefferson proposal approved for 4-year hike

Clallam Transit to receive $4M in grants

Agency to use funds on Strait Shot and other routes

Port Angeles council OKs sidewalk near park

Applicants to receive grant funding for one-third of total cost