General election ballots are due Tuesday as registered voters make their choices in six contests.
None of the non-partisan contests are countywide. Races on the ballot are on the Port Townsend City Council, the Quilcene School Board and Port Ludlow Fire Protection District, as well the Sequim School Board and Clallam County Fire Protection District 3.
In addition, residents are voting on several candidates with no opposition, as well as on three state advisory votes.
All completed ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday or placed in drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.
Nearly 29 percent — 28.82 percent — of the 27,575 ballots mailed to registered voters had been returned as of Friday, according to the Jefferson County Elections Office. Of the 7,948 returned, 114 had been challenged for problems with signatures or other reasons.
In neighboring Clallam County, nearly 26 percent — 25.98 percent — of the 57,152 ballots mailed to registers voters had been returned as of Friday, according to the Clallam County elections office.
Six races are contested in Jefferson County. The rest are unopposed.
• Two contested races are on the ballot for the Port Townsend City Council.
Ben Thomas, a winemaker, and Cameron Jones, a U.S. Army veteran and an organizer for the Jefferson County Chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, are vying for Position 1.
Competing for Position 5 on the City Council are Libby Urner Wennstrom and Tyler Myles Vega.
Wennstrom is a self-employed technical writer and is the vice chair of the Jefferson County Democrats.
Vega works as an IT professional and is a co-chair of the Washington Progressive Party.
• Paul Mahan and Ronald Leon Jones are running for the Position 5 seat on the Quilcene School Board.
Mahan is the owner of Mahan Log & Lumber; Jones is a U.S. Navy veteran and works as a business analyst for a government contractor.
• Glenn T. Clemens and Ron Helmonds are vying for Position 3 on the Port Ludlow Fire District commission.
Clemens is a retired ship captain who worked 40 years in the maritime industry. Helmond, a 17-year Port Ludlow resident, has served on the board for the Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue for 12 years.
• The Sequim School Board has one contested race. Virginia R. Sheppard, a small business owner, and Kristi Schmeck, who cannot serve because she withdrew prior to the primary election, are on the ballot for the Position 4 seat.
Some residents of East Jefferson County will vote in this race as well as in the Clallam County Fire District 3 contest for Position 1 on the commission.
• Jeff Nicholas, a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain, and Duane Chamlee, a U.S. Army veteran and retired California deputy fire chief, are running.
Although the deadline is past for voter registration online and by mail, in-person registration can be done up to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the county auditor’s office.
Drop box locations for Jefferson County are:
• Port Townsend — Jefferson County Courthouse’s back parking lot and in front of the courthouse steps, 1820 Jefferson St., as well as in the auditor’s office.
• Nordland — Nordland Fire Station, 6633 Flagler Road.
• Port Hadlock — Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., next to the book drop in the parking lot.
• Quilcene — Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.
• Port Ludlow — 93 Beaver Valley Road in the parking lot of the Olympic Peninsula Gateway Visitor Center.
• Brinnon — Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101.
• Hoh Nation — 2261 Lower Hoh Road.
• Queets — Quinault Nation, Queets Avenue, Forks.
Live streaming election processing is online at https://co.jefferson.wa.us/1484/Election-Cameras. Those unable to observe online are asked to call 360-385-9119 to make arrangements for on-site observing.
More information on the Jefferson County elections can be found at https://co.jefferson.wa.us/1266/Elections.
