Bernie Sanders was slightly ahead in polling in Washington state with Joe Biden — who won victories in Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan — a very close second as of 8:30 p.m. after polls closed at 8 Tuesday night.
The Democratic primaries are choosing who will go up against President Donald Trump in the November general election.
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator, took 335,498 votes, or 32.7 percent, statewide, while Biden, former vice president under President Barack Obama, received 333,414, or 32.49 percent statewide, with all Washington counties reporting.
Biden took Clallam County with 4,483 votes or 33.52 percent of the vote, to Sanders’ 3,549 votes, or 26.54 percent.
Sanders was ahead in Jefferson County, with 3,283 or 34.03 percent to Biden’s 3,134, or 32.48 percent.
Trump — the only Republican on the primary ballot for that party — had received 523,409 votes, or 98.52 percent statewide, with write-in votes numbering 7,862 or 1.48 percent.
Trump won 10,020 votes, or 98.71 percent in Clallam County, with write-in votes numbering 131, or 1.29 percent. In Jefferson County, he took 2,786 votes, or 100 percent, with no write-in votes cast.
Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard — the only other candidate still in the running — won 8,550 votes, or 0.83 percent statewide, with 152 votes, or 1.14 percent, in Clallam County and 79 votes, or 0.82 percent in Jefferson County.
Jefferson County resident Sarah Haull drops off her presidential primary ballot at the ballot drop box behind the Jefferson County Courthouse on Tuesday morning. (Zach Jablonski/Peninsula Daily News)
Voter turnouts on Election Night were 43.42 percent, or 23,609 of the 54,372 ballots provided registered voters in Clallam County, and 47.36 percent, or 12,448 votes of the 26,286 ballots provided voters in Jefferson County.
Numbers will change in the days ahead as ballots in the all-mail election continue to arrive at county Auditors’ Offices statewide and be counted. Clallam County plans daily counts with results announced each day by 4:30 p.m. Jefferson County’s next count will be by 4 p.m. Friday.
In addition, the state requires that all voters who sent in ballots with party affiliations, signatures or other problems will receive letters from the auditors’ offices encouraging them to “cure” their ballots by 4:30 p.m. March 19, the day before the election is certified.
“Everyone who does not check a party will be sent a cure letter,” said Quinn Grewell, Jefferson County elections manager.
Ten others on the primary election ballot have dropped out since the ballots were printed.
Here are North Olympic Peninsula totals for those candidates:
Michael Bennet, 27 Clallam County, 11 Jefferson County; Michael Bloomberg, 1,816 Clallam County, 881 Jefferson County; Cory Booker, 13 Clallam County, 11 Jefferson County; Pete Buttigieg, 876 Clallam County, 448 Jefferson County; John Delaney, 8 Clallam County, 4 Jefferson County; Amy Klobuchar, 605 Clallam County, 365 Jefferson County; Deval Patrick, 6 Clallam County, 3 Jefferson County; Tom Steyer, 58 Clallam County, 21 Jefferson County; Elizabeth Warren, 1,624 Clallam County, 1,323 Jefferson County; and Andrew Yang, 46 Clallam County, 23 Jefferson County;
Here are the number of votes for uncommitted delegates: 90 in Clallam County; 62 in Jefferson County.
