Clallam County vote counts Tuesday secured victory for several Nov. 2 general election candidates who ran for top positions in Clallam County government, including Selinda Barkhuis, who toppled incumbent Treasurer Judy Scott.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office, which did not count votes Tuesday, will tally about 350 votes at noon today.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 2,529 ballots Tuesday, which were outstanding from the 33,927 ballots returned from 45,611 mailed — a 74.4 percent voter turnout, Auditor Patty Rosand said.
The ballots that remain to be tabulated Nov. 23, the day the election will be certified, include military and overseas ballots that may come in, 246 ballots in which the signature does not match what’s on file and 61 ballots with no signatures.
Voters with questionable signatures have been sent affidavits that are due by Nov. 22 if their ballots are to be counted.
“There’s not enough to swing any of the local races,” Rosand said, adding that the 25 votes cited on the county website as “ballots left to count” was an arbitrary number inserted there by her office.
Barkhuis, 48, a non-practicing attorney and current county senior planner, won the county treasurer position.
She had 14,318 votes, or 50.8 percent, to Scott’s 13,868 votes, or 49.2 percent.
Scott — who has worked in the treasurer’s office for 27 years and who was elected treasurer in 2005 — conceded late Tuesday in a prepared statement.
“I know that I did my best to do what was right and responsible as an elected official of Clallam County,” said Scott, 59, of Port Angeles.
“I will continue to work for the county to ensure a smooth transition to the new administration of the office. My best wishes for success to all involved.”
Barkhuis, also of Port Angeles, said she will plan a transition to her new job over the next couple of months.
“It’s been a stressful ride, so I’m glad it’s over,” Barkhuis said.
She ran a campaign focused almost entirely on the embezzlement of $617,467 in real estate excise taxes from the Treasurer’s Office — allegedly by a former office cashier, Catherine Betts — that was discovered May 19, 2009.
Betts has pleaded not guilty to first-degree theft in county Superior Court.
Barkhuis does not expect to make any “swift changes” in staff and will keep her present job until the end of the year, she said.
Barkhuis — along with all other elected officials — will take office the first week in January.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” she said.
Incumbent Republican county Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, 57, of Port Angeles won 16,648 votes, or 52 percent, to challenger Larry Freedman’s 15,388 votes, or 48 percent.
Freedman, 72, a Sequim attorney and a Democrat, conceded Tuesday in a PDN interview.
Kelly has served as prosecuting attorney since 2003.
Sheila Roark Miller, a county code compliance officer and deputy fire marshal, is the next Clallam County Department of Community Development Director.
Roark Miller, 51, of Carlsborg, took 15,264 votes, or 53.45 percent, to incumbent John Miller’s, 13,294 votes, or 46.55 percent.
Miller, 61, of Port Angeles, conceded Tuesday in a PDN interview.
Roark Miller did not return a call for comment.
Incumbent District 3 Democratic county Commissioner Mike Doherty, 67, of Port Angeles, won reelection with 16,494 votes, or 51.67 percent, to Beaver Republican Robin Poole’s 15,426 votes, or 48.33 percent.
Poole, 61, a UPS driver, conceded earlier this week.
In addition, incumbent 24th District incumbent Position 1 Democrat Kevin Van De Wege, 36, of Sequim, maintained his win over Republican challenger Dan Gase, 57, of Port Angeles, as did 24th District Position 2 candidate Steve Tharinger, 61, of Sequim, a Clallam County commissioner, over Republican Jim McEntire, 60, also of Sequim.
Gase and McEntire have conceded to their respective opponents.
The 24th District consists of Clallam and Jefferson counties and the northern half of Grays Harbor County not including Aberdeen.
The Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office tallied 5,062 ballots Tuesday, though its next count had been slated for today.
The 24th District is one of three legislative districts in Grays Harbor County, and it was impossible Tuesday to determine how many of the recently counted ballots contained the two 24th District contests, Elections Administrator Julie Murphy said late Tuesday.
She said the next count will be Nov. 23, but expects the number to be small, and, like Clallam County, will consist mostly of corrected and overseas ballots.
The districtwide count showed that Van De Wege won 34,560 votes, or 56.08 percent, to Gase’s 27,064 vote, or 43.92 percent.
The districtwide count was 31,913 votes, or 52.23 percent for Tharinger, and 29,183 votes, or 47.77 percent for McEntire.
Van De Wege took Clallam County, with 16,630 votes, or 50.51 percent, to Gase’s 16,293 votes, or 49.49 percent.
But McEntire took Clallam County, with 16,950 votes, or 51.82 percent, to Tharinger’s 15,757 votes, or 48.18 percent.
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Senior Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
