County gearing up for first all-mail election

Primary set for four voting districts

GRANT COUNTY — Voters in a few Grant County towns will be notified in the next few days of the Sept. 20 primary election. And for the first time, each of those voters will receive their ballots in the mail.

Grant County Auditor Bill Varney said ballots were scheduled to go out Friday for voters in Moses Lake, Electric City, Coulee City and Grant County Fire District No. 8 in Mattawa.

The election will be the first since the county switched over to all-mail elections in June, and will also serve as a trial run for the countywide general election scheduled for Nov. 8.

"We don't have any idea yet," Varney said on how the system will work in this first election, "It's kind of a learning experience for us, too."

Varney proposed the switch to all mail elections to the Grant County Commissioners in May, after noticing the number of absentee voters steadily creep up over the last 10 years. In the last countywide election, Varney said 70 percent of registered voters cast their ballots through the mail.

"This is pretty much how it's going to be from now on," Varney said of the all-mail election system. He added however that the method isn't set in stone.

Ballots for this first all-mail election will be sent to 9,288 voters, or about one-third of the registered voters in Grant County. Varney said voters just need to make sure their ballots are postmarked by the Sept. 20 primary election day.

Voters in three of the four voting districts will be whittling down candidates for city council or mayoral spots, while voters in Fire District No. 8 will make their decision on an EMS levy.

The Moses Lake primary determines the two candidates for Council Position No. 1; with Bill Ecret, Fernando Alvarez and Richard Beeson all vying for the spot.

In Coulee City, Maxine Maxwell, Corey Minatani, Richard H. Heiberg and Bob Little are all running for Mayor.

Electric City has two races, with candidates positioned for both Mayor and Council Position No. 2 in the primary. Raymond R. Halsey, Don Daniels, Troy L. Ritter and Bob Rupe will each vie for Mayor. Council Position No. 2 has three candidates in Wayne Svaren, Jerry Sands and Mark A. Borden are running.

Each voting area has a drop off point, former polling places, for voters not wishing to mail their ballot. The Moses Lake Fire Department on Third Avenue, the Electric City Hall and the Desert Aire Senior Center will all be staffed as drop off points.

Voters living in districts where a primary will be held and don't receive a ballot by Sept. 10 are asked to call the Grant County Elections Office at (509) 754-2011.