Election results will be certified in Clallam and Jefferson counties on Friday.
Voter turnout was about 45 percent in Clallam County and about 55 percent in Jefferson County in the primary election that ended on Sept. 19.
Clallam County
In Clallam County, the three-person Canvassing Board will meet this morning to consider whether 273 challenged ballots will be rejected or counted.
Also, there are 14 additional ballots that have trickled in from overseas and out of state that have yet to be counted, but those will be added to the tally.
Those ballots have been checked and are valid.
Of the 44,154 registered voters in Clallam County, 19,876 valid ballots have been counted, said Clallam County elections coordinator Patty Rosand.
That puts voter turnout at about 45 percent.
Of the 273 ballots to be reviewed, they were initially rejected because of no signature, late post mark, late drop box, deceased voter, or wrong voter signed the ballot, said Julie Ridgway, voter registration coordinator.
Auditors office staff identified the ballots, but the canvassing board is the final say if they are rejected.
The canvassing board will meet at 9 a.m. in the elections center in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse.
The board is made up of the elected prosecuting attorney, auditor and chairman of the county commissioners, or their appointed representative.
JeffersonCounty
In Jefferson County, the election will be certified in the Auditor’s Office on the first floor of the county courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
The certification will begin at 8 a.m., and Auditor Donna Eldridge said at least 79 additional ballots will be counted at that time.
These ballots to be counted arrived by mail after the Sept. 22 second ballot count but are postmarked no later than Sept. 19.
Also, ballots that are being counted come from challenged ballots with signatures that were lacking or did not match the signature the Auditor’s Office has on file.
Eldridge said there were still 39 outstanding challenged ballots as of Tuesday evening.
Staff members from the Auditor’s Office called those voters to have them come in to the office and recast their primary election ballot by today’s deadline for challenged ballots.
“Nothing will change as far as who the top vote-getters were,” Eldridge said.
The Auditor’s Office has thus far counted 11,525 ballots of the 20,868 ballots sent out to Jefferson County voters, or 55.23 percent.
