Primary ballots are on the way

Washington’s primary election is scheduled for Sept. 19, but in reality it begins this week as voters around the state receive their ballots in the mail.

With 34 of the state’s 39 counties – including all Eastern Washington counties – converted to all-mail balloting, the concept of an election “day” might be a thing of the past. Some voters will be marking their ballots as soon as they arrive, others will wait a few days or a week to consider a particular race, and others will procrastinate until the last minute.

The state was forced to change its primary law in 2004, so that voters were restricted to voting for a single party’s candidates. That means in Spokane County and most other counties, voters will receive three ballots – one Democratic, one Republican and one nonpartisan – and should only mark and mail back one. The nonpartisan races, primarily for judicial seats this year, will appear on the partisan ballots, too.

Minor party and independent candidates won’t show up until the Nov. 7 ballot, when they’ll run against the top vote-getters from the primaries.

Some districts and cities are also using the primary to ask voters to approve ballot measures.

The Spokane County Library District wants to continue receiving a levy of 50 cents per $1,000 for maintenance and operations, while the cities of Cheney and Medical Lake have six-year levies for emergency medical services and Spokane County Fire District 9 has a three-year maintenance and operations levy.

Ballots must be postmarked by Sept. 19.

In Spokane County they can also be taken to one of five Voter Service Centers between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The centers will be at the County Elections Office, 1033 W. Gardner; North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road; St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 316 E. 24th; Spokane Valley CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place; and St. Anne’s Church, 708 E. Lake St., Medical Lake.