PORT ANGELES — Voters have three days left to return their ballots in Tuesday’s primary election.
As of Friday, 20.61 percent of registered voters in Clallam County had done so, according to county Auditor Shoona Riggs.
“This is about average for a typical odd-year primary with very little on the ballot,” said Shoona Riggs, county auditor.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office had received a total of 9,579 ballots out of the 46,483 ballots provided to eligible voters by Friday.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office had received a total of 5,791 ballots as of Friday — 23.75 percent of the 24,383 ballots provided to voters.
Voters statewide had returned 483,712 ballots — or 12.8 percent — of the 3.8 million mailed as of 8 a.m. Friday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-statestats.
Primary races are among three candidates. In Washington state’s top-two primary, the two hopefuls for a seat who receive the highest number of votes go on to the general election, which will be on Nov. 7 this year.
On Clallam County’s ballot are three city council races, two fire district races and one proposition. However, two of those races offer names of candidates who have dropped out. Since they withdrew after the deadline, their names remain on the ballot.
Bill Paul dropped out of the race for Forks City Council Position 3, which means Mike Gilstrap and Joe Soha will battle it out in the Nov. 7 election.
Likewise, Allen Hunt withdrew from the race for the Position 1 seat on the Clallam Fire District 2 commission. That means incumbent Tom Martin and challenger Patricia Reienstahl will vie for the seat in November.
Two seats on the Port Angeles City Council are contested with three candidates each. Todd Negus, Jim Moran and Marolee Smith are vying for the Position 1 seat vacated by Brad Collins, while incumbent Lee Whetham is challenged by Mike French and Jacob Oppelt for the Position 2 seat.
Incumbent Steven Chinn and challengers Sean Ryan and Robert Porrazzo are battling for the Position 2 seat on the commission for Fire District 3, which is in both Clallam and Jefferson counties.
The Transportation Benefit District board, which consists of Port Angeles City Council members, is seeking voter approval of a 0.2 percent retail sales tax increase to fund street projects.
If approved, it would add 2 cents to every $10 spent on taxable sales starting Jan. 1.
Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday or dropped off no later than 8 p.m. that day at the following locations:
• Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. Drive-up drop boxes are provided on the circular drive and directly across from disabled parking.
• Auditor’s Office in the county courthouse, Suite 1.
• Sequim Village Shopping Center, near the J.C. Penney store, 651 W. Washington St.
• Forks District Court lobby, 502 E. Division St.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
For disabled voters, a voting terminal is available at the Auditor’s Office.
Voters who have lost, damaged or never received their ballot should contact the Auditor’s Office to request a replacement.
They can also access a printable ballot via the secure website MyVote at www.myvote.wa.gov.
The Peninsula Daily News published a voter guide for the primary election and inserted it into subscribers’ papers July 9. It is also available online at www.peninsuladaily news.com. From the top left menu, go to “Print Editions” and select either Clallam or Jefferson County.
To reach the auditor’s election website on the Peninsula, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-clallam auditor. The phone number is 360-417-2221.
