State primary ballots clarified

Ballots to be postmarked by Feb. 19

GRANT COUNTY - The Grant County Auditor clarified confusion about ballots mailed out to voting citizens.

All voting packages state there are three ballots enclosed inside although some only contain two ballots, Grant County Auditor Bill Varney said.

He said the only cities receiving three ballots are the cities eligible to vote for school levies in their area. All other voters who received two ballots were supposed to receive two ballots.

Both presidential primary and school levy ballots are to be postmarked by Feb. 19.

School levies are being run by Soap Lake School District, Wahluke School District, Quincy School District, Warden School District, Coulee-Hartline School District, Royal City School District and Wilson Creek School District.

If a voter receives a third ballot for the school district, they can mail it back with the presidential primary ballot. Voters are directed to mail back only one ballot for the presidential primary, either the Democrat or Republican ballot, Varney said.

The oath is required for the vote to count.

Varney said if someone mailed in a ballot with a vote for a presidential candidate but didn't check off an oath declaring their party, the vote will not count.

Democrats require people voting for a Democratic candidate to swear, "I declare that I consider myself to be a Democrat and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2008 Presidential election."

Republicans require the oath, "I declare that I am a member of the Republican Party and I have not participated and will not participate in the 2008 precinct caucus or convention system of any other party."

The oaths are to guarantee people remain loyal to one party and not serve as a delegate for one, while voting for the other's candidate in the primary.

School levy votes do note require the oath to be counted. Varney said people who only want to vote for a school district levy are not required to chose a presidential candidate and are not required to check an oath.

He said the oath became a requirement after the state Democratic, Libertarian and Republican parties sued the state to make it a requirement on the ballot.

Varney said the oath has upset many voters who may not want to declare a party. He said he encourages people to still cast their vote for the school levies in the appropriate areas because voters are not required to choose a party when only voting for a levy.

Ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 19 to be included in the tabulation.