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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Incorrect ballots worry officials

Washington state’s Tuesday primary is causing so much confusion that election officials last week held press conferences and issued statements asking voters to be careful about how they mark their ballots.

They don’t care whom voters select. They just want to make sure that small mistakes in the unfamiliar partisan primary process don’t invalidate any more ballots.

In some counties, between 10 percent and 20 percent of ballots being processed have been invalidated because voters did not follow instructions.

Here are some reminders for voters who have not yet marked their ballots:

This is a partisan primary, so you can vote for Republican candidates or Democratic candidates, but not both. That’s different from the state’s old “blanket” primary, which was changed because of federal court rulings. Voters who don’t want to choose a party can still vote in nonpartisan races such as the state and local judicial races.

Spokane and many Eastern Washington counties use a multiple ballot system, which means each voter received a Republican ballot, a Democratic ballot and a nonpartisan ballot in the mail. A voter can only mark and mail back one of those ballots. The nonpartisan races are included on the partisan ballots, so that ballot does not need to be marked separately.

In other counties, including Ferry, Lincoln and Stevens, voters received one ballot with both parties’ candidates, plus the nonpartisan races. To vote in partisan races with that type of ballot, a voter must fill in the box or circle for the chosen party and cannot vote for candidates of the other party for any partisan race. Failure to fill in the box for a party will result in the votes for partisan candidates not being counted, although nonpartisan votes will be counted.

Writing in the name of a candidate for the other party in a particular race will not result in that candidate receiving a vote. It won’t invalidate the rest of the ballot.

Choosing one party’s ballot or candidates in the primary does not limit access to a ballot in the general election. In November, candidates for both major parties, plus minor party candidates and independents, will be on one ballot, and voters can choose from among them for each race.

Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday evening. On Tuesday, they can also be dropped off at voter service centers set up by each county’s elections office.