More than 490,000 absentee ballots were returned to municipal clerks ahead of Tuesday’s primary, a 39 percent increase in mail-in ballots cast in the 2012 primary, state elections data shows.
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Ballots have been coming into the Clark County Elections office in a trickle, not a flood.
At the local level, many important offices are being decided including city councils and county commissions. The lieutenant governor, auditor, treasurer, public lands and education superintendent seats are all open.
A total of 182 voters participated in the DeKalb County General Election, while the Smithville Municipal Election saw 456 people vote, 59 of those being property rights voters. Voters do not register by party and may vote for their favorite for each office.
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The 2016 primary ballot includes a long list of races for federal and statewide offices, including the state Legislature. Two other incumbent justices have a lone challenger and will not be on the ballot until the General Election. Under state law, the Republican and Democratic national nominees automatically go to Washington ballot. Voters in Yakima County Fire District No. 14, also called the Nile-Cliffdell Fire Department, will vote on a levy proposal.
