Monday is a national holiday, but it also marks an important local deadline to participate in the state’s Aug. 2 top-two primary. Voters must register by July 4.
“It’s a big ballot, it’s got a lot of races on it — front and back,” said Cathie Garber, Clark County Elections supervisor. “It’s going to take some time and a lot of research by voters to make a wise decision.”
Registering to vote is a seemingly appropriate way to celebrate Independence Day. Those who planned to register by mail are too late; it must have been postmarked no later than July 2.
Registration online will be available Monday until midnight. For information about registering online, visit www.clark.wa.gov/elections/voter-registration.
For those prospective voters new to the state, there is a bit more breathing room: July 25 is their deadline for in-person registration.
Since the start of the year, 14,607 new Washington voters have registered. That’s close to double the amount during the same time period in the previous election.
Garber said it’s usual during a presidential election year for more new voters to register.
On July 11, the county will send out the voters’ pamphlets, and ballots will be delivered starting July 15.
The state already held its presidential primaries. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton won the primary in Washington.
But Democrats didn’t use their primary results to apportion delegates to their national convention this month in Philadelphia. Democrats allocated their delegates according to results of precinct caucuses, which were held March 26. Democrat Bernie Sanders emerged the clear winner.
