PORT ANGELES — The lone candidate for a vacant Clallam Conservation District board of supervisors position gained 109 votes in balloting last week that took place the old-fashioned way: primarily at polling places.
Ashley Merscher of Sequim will succeed incumbent Marilyn Pollock, who did not seek re-election to the three-year term.
Merscher received 63 votes in Sequim, including two requested absentee-ballot votes, and 46 in Port Angeles during Monday’s voting.
Unlike past elections, no write-in candidates were allowed who did not file for the position as of Feb. 14, and polling stations in Sequim and Port Angeles were each open for four hours instead of two.
Under the new regulations, polling stations must be open a minimum of four hours.
In addition, absentee ballots are now available to voters.
District elections supervisor Beth Loveridge said that with just one candidate running, she was surprised at the turnout.
“There seemed to be a great deal of support for Ashley,” Loveridge said Friday.
Merscher did not return a call for comment Friday.
The new conservation district voting regulations are available at www.scc.wa.gov.
In Jefferson County, Julie Boggs of Chimacum was re-elected March 2 to a three-year term on the conservation district board of supervisors with 13 votes.
Unlike the all-mail-ballot elections held for other elected positions in Clallam and Jefferson counties, the conservation districts in the two counties allow balloting only at polling places and by requested absentee ballots.
Conservation districts run and pay for their own elections, in which all registered voters can cast ballots.
There are 21,485 registered voters in Jefferson County, where the election cost $200 to $300, district manager Al Latham said.
There are 45,357 registered voters in Clallam County, where the election cost about $600, Loveridge said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
