Primary election ballots will be mailed out today to North Olympic Peninsula voters.

The races on the ballot for the Aug. 2 primary election will be heavy on the statewide and regional side but lighter close to home.

More than 49,900 primary ballots were dispatched today in Clallam County and 23,500 were mailed in Jefferson County.

Voters must fill them out and return them to their respective county courthouse election offices or drop-boxes by 8 p.m. Aug. 2, or mail them soon enough that they are postmarked by that date.

Some already mailed

More than 900 ballots already have been mailed and emailed to U.S. citizens overseas and to military personnel both stateside and overseas, said Ken Hugoniot, Clallam elections supervisor, and Betty Johnson, Jefferson elections supervisor, Tuesday.

The Jefferson County ballots include 86 that were sent to overseas military personnel.

The Secretary of State’s Office will certify results Aug. 19.

Primary races with three or more candidates will narrow the field to the top two voter-getters, who will advance to the Nov. 8 general election, regardless of party affiliation.

Partisan statewide offices will include governor and U.S. senator, and the regional 6th Congressional District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Voters will choose from among 76 candidates for 10 statewide offices — 17 alone have filed for the U.S. Senate position held by Democrat Patty Murray of Seattle.

County races

The only county races that will appear on the primary election ballot are for county commission seats.

Running for Port Angeles-area District 2 Clallam County commissioner are no-party-preference candidate Randy Johnson, Republicans Maggie Roth and Gabe Rygaard, and Democrat Ron Richards.

Balloting for the Clallam commissioner position in both the primary and general election is confined to District 2 but does not include that portion of the city west of the Eighth Street bridges.

Candidates running for Port Townsend-area District 1 Jefferson County commissioner are Democrats Kate Dean, Tim Thomas and Cynthia Koan; Republican Jeff Gallant and no-party-preference candidate Holly Postmus.

Balloting for the primary will be limited to District 1 and for the general election will be countywide.

District 24

Three are running for the 24th Legislative District that covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor county.

Democrats Mike Chapman of Port Angeles, a Clallam County commissioner; Tammy Ramsay of Hoquiam; and Republican George Vrable of Port Ludlow, a retired fire department battalion chief, are vying for a 24th District state representative Position 1 seat.

Democrat Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim decided not to run for re-election.

Instead, Van De Wege is running against independent-GOP party candidate Danille Turissini of Port Ludlow for the 24th District state Senate seat held by Hoquiam Democrat Jim Hargrove, who is retiring.

Van De Wege and Turissini are on the primary election ballot under a state law that requires that candidates be on a primary ballot for partisan positions even if only one candidate files, said Johnson, the Jefferson County elections supervisor.

Thus, incumbent Position 2 state Rep. Steve Tharinger of Sequim is listed along with his sole opponent, GOP-independent party candidate John D. Alger, also of Sequim, although both will advance to the general election.

No party affiliation

Voters do not have to declare a party affiliation to vote in the general election primary.

That was required only for the party primaries.

There is no shortage of candidates to choose from on Clallam and Jefferson ballots for partisan positions held by incumbents Murray, Gov. Jay Inslee, and 6th District U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, all Democrats.

Partisan positions also are open for statewide offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, superintendent of public instruction and insurance commissioner.

Also on both ballots is the nonpartisan state Supreme Court justice Position 5 seat.

All Democrats are running for precinct committee offices in Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Nineteen precinct committee candidates are running in Clallam County and 21 are running in Jefferson County.

Voting units

Accessible Voting Units are available for voters who need help filling out paper ballots.

Voters must bring ballots they received in the mail to auditor’s offices in Clallam or Jefferson counties to use the units.

The voter registration deadline for the primary election that begins today is July 25 and must be completed in person at the Auditor’s Office.

For a sample ballot, online voter guide and other primary election information, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-clallamcountyelections and http://tinyurl.com/PDN-jeffersonelections.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.