Check your mailbox for primary ballot

It’s that time again.

Ballots for the Aug. 18 primary begin arriving in mailboxes this week. Voters will narrow the field in a dozen Spokane-area races, where the top two vote-getters in each will advance to the Nov. 3 general election. Also on the ballot is a countywide tax measure.

With the exception of a race to fill the remainder of a legislative term representing the Palouse region, the showdowns this year are for nonpartisan municipal offices such as city councils, school boards and fire commissions. It’s local politics at its most grass-roots level.

You can cast your ballot as soon as it arrives, or you can wait. But if you want your vote to count, your ballot must be postmarked no later than Aug. 18, or dropped off by that day at one of the many ballot boxes being set up at public libraries countywide. If you need assistance casting your ballot independently, six voter service centers will be open on election day.