Tuesday is the last day to turn in a ballot for the primary election.

For most Eastern Washington voters, it's a short ballot. One or two races for city council seat, a fire district or school board. The names might not be household words. The campaign may have slipped by unnoticed.

The good  news in all this: Getting up to speed on the primary choices won't take very long. You could tap into Primary Section of The Spokesman-Review's Election Center. Spokane County voters can get some candidate-provided info at the county's Online Voters Guide.

Remember, Washington votes by mail. Ballots were sent out about three weeks ago, so it may be in that stack of unopened bills and coupons on a desk or counter somewhere.

Once the ballot is marked, voters have two options.

Seal it in the envelope, sign it, put a stamp on it and mail it so that it's postmarked before 8 p.m. Tuesday. (Hint: dropping in a mail box or at a closed post office at 7:59 p.m. isn't going to cut it. For those waiting until the last day, it's a good idea to take it into the post office, had it to a postal clerk and ask to have it postmarked.)

Or seal it, sign it and deposit it in a ballot drop box before 8 p.m. Tuesday. (Dropping it off at 7:59 p.m. Tuesday actually will work for this option. But don't push your luck because election workers are usually there sharply at 8 p.m. to pick up the ballots.)

All public libraries in Spokane County have drop boxes, although the drop boxes at Medical Lake and Cheney aren't open for the primary, because voters in those areas have no primary ballots to cast. (Editor's note: an earlier version of this post incorrectly listed an incorrect library that wasn't open for ballots.) For a list of addresses for the Spokane County drop boxes, go inside the blog.

For voters in other counties, check with the elections office for the nearest drop box.

 

•	AirwayHeights	1213 S Lundstrom St	99001
•	Argonne	4322 N Argonne Rd	99212
•	Deer Park	208 S Forest Ave	99006
•	Downtown	906 W Main Ave	99201
•	East Side	524 S Stone St	99202
•	Fairfield	305 E Main St	99012
•	Hillyard	4005 N Cook St	99207
•	Indian Trail	4909 W Barnes Rd	99208
•	Moran Prairie	6004 S Regal St	99223
•	North Spokane	44 E Hawthorne Rd	99218
•	Otis Orchards	22324 E Wellesley Ave	99027
•	ShadlePark	2111 W Wellesley Ave	99205
•	South Hill	3324 S Perry St	99203
•	Spokane Valley	12004 E Main Ave	99206
•	STA Plaza	701 W Riverside Ave	99201
•	Elections Office	1033 W Gardner Ave	99201

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