Elections officials in Clallam and Jefferson counties are optimistic voter turnout will be high for Tuesday’s primary election.
“I’m saying 70 percent,” Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge predicted Thursday.
Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown said she is hoping for 50 percent voter turnout.
According to figures released Thursday, 32.7 percent — 12,968 ballots out of 39,610 issued — of the ballots in Clallam’s all-mail election had been returned.
That’s already more than the 12,929 ballots returned in last year’s fall primary election.
In Jefferson County, 5,174 absentee ballots of the 10,685 issued — 48.4 percent –had been returned.
That’s only 27.9 percent of all registered voters in the county, Eldridge said, noting about 42 percent of voters will cast ballots at the polls Tuesday.
Jefferson County has 18,381 registered voters, she said.
“We expect a fabulous turnout in Jefferson County,” she said. “I expect a lot from voters here. Seventy percent — that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
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