Voters in Jefferson and Clallam counties were slow to return ballots after the first weekend of voting for the Nov. 8 election.
Voter turnout in Jefferson County was 8.1 percent, Voter Registration Coordinator Betty Johnson reported Monday.
Of the 21,659 ballots mailed to registered voters in Jefferson County, 1,760 were returned by Monday.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office received 1,219 ballots for the Nov. 8 general election by Monday, Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand reported.
The first batch of ballots accounted for just 2.7 percent of the 45,710 registered voters who received a ballot.
Ballots in the all-mail election were distributed starting Wednesday of last week. They are due no later than 8 p.m. Nov. 8.
“This is a complicated ballot,” Rosand said, “with five state measures and many local offices. Voters are taking time to educate themselves on the candidates and issues before casting their ballots.
“There is plenty of time to vote.”
In Port Townsend, where voters are deciding a city ballot measure as well as City Council races, 551 of the 6,811 ballots mailed to city voters had been returned as of Monday.
That was also an 8.1 percent turnout.
All the races in Jefferson County are local, with no countywide offices to be decided.
There are 16 contested races in Clallam County this year, including a countywide race for Clallam County commissioner.
Democrat Linda Barnfather, 48, an executive legislative assistant to Democratic 24th District state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, and Republican Jim McEntire, 61, a Port of Port Angeles commissioner, are the candidates.
Anyone who did not receive a Jefferson County ballot by Monday should phone the Auditor’s Office at 360-385-9119 or email karenc@co.jefferson.wa.us.
In Clallam, any voter who has not yet received a ballot in the mail should phone the Auditor’s Office at 360-417-2221 for a replacement ballot and address verification.
Copies of the 2011 North Olympic Peninsula Voter Guide, with separate editions published for Jefferson and Clallam counties, debuted in the Peninsula Daily News last Friday.
Free copies of the voter guide are available at libraries, county courthouses, city halls, PDN offices in downtown Port Angeles and online at www.peninsuladailynews.com (click on the respective county’s voter guide button at the bottom of the home page).
