The Washington secretary of state’s office on Thursday certified the results of the state’s Aug. 6 primary and directed a hand recount of votes in the state lands commissioner race.
About 1.9 million people participated in the primary, selecting candidates for governor, attorney general, congressional seats, and hundreds of other state and local elected offices around Washington. The top two finishers in each race — regardless of party — advance to the November general election. Primary turnout was 40.9% this year, down from 54.4% in the last presidential election cycle in 2020.
The second-place results in the lands commissioner race are the closest in the history of statewide primaries in Washington, the secretary of state’s office said.
Democrat Dave Upthegrove edged out Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson by just 51 votes for second. If Upthegrove’s advantage holds, he will move onto the general election and compete against Jamie Herrera Beutler, who took the top spot in the primary.
“The mandatory recount underscores the importance of every vote and reaffirms the commitment of our county election officials to ensuring accurate election results. We ask for everyone’s patience as county election officials administer the manual recount to ensure that the intent of every voter is accurately heard,” Assistant Secretary of State Kevin McMahan said in a statement.
County election offices have estimated to the secretary of state’s office that the recount could take about a week to complete.
Hand recounts are required in statewide races when the difference between the candidates is less than one-quarter of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates and also less than 1,000 votes.
Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election will be mailed to eligible voters by Oct. 18. The deadline for online and mail registrations to be received for the general election is Oct. 28. People can register to vote or update their registration in person any time before 8 p.m. on Election Day.
