SPOKANE COUNTY, July 19, 2021– The Spokane County Auditor’s Office would like to remind the community that for elected offices, the Primary Election only includes races that have three or more candidates. Races with only one or two candidates go directly to the General Election in November.
Spokane County Auditor, Vicky Dalton, explained, “Voters are eager to vote and have been flooding the phones at the Election Office wondering why some races are not on their ballots. Washington State uses the “top two go forward” primary. Any race with three or more candidates must be winnowed down to only two candidates for the General Election. For example, Council District 2 in City of Spokane only has two filed candidates. There is no Primary election in that District, so this race does not appear on a Primary ballot. That race will appear on only the General Election ballot.”
Over 323,000 voters received ballots with races that need to be narrowed down or that have tax levy issues.
Over 34,000 voters had no races with more than two candidates, so they did not receive a Primary ballot and will have to wait until the General Election to vote.
Voters are encouraged to use their new printed local voters’ pamphlet to research the races on their Primary ballot. The pamphlets were mailed last week to all households with Primary races. Voters can also use VoteWA.gov to find information about races as well as change their address, look up their voter registration information and track their ballot.
Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day or returned in the white ballot drop boxes by 8:00 pm on Election Day. Envelopes are postage-paid so voters do not need to find a stamp.