Ballots for the August 3, 2021 primary election are being tabulated at the Thurston County Ballot Processing Center in Tamwater.
sbloom@theolympian.com
Thurston County candidates, who were ahead in early results Tuesday, maintained their lead Thursday, but thousands of votes have yet to be counted.
The audit service issued an election update Thursday evening. The results showed that 84,613 votes had been counted, but about 35,000 remained. This means many races could still be contested in the coming days.
About 43.3% of Thurston County’s registered voters have turned out so far, but that percentage will increase as the remaining votes are counted.
Auditor Mary Hall previously said she expects the percentage will eventually exceed 60%. She said the county’s polling centers in Olympia and Lacey were very busy on Election Day, but overall it was a good day for her office.
“We were grateful that people didn’t wait until the last minute,” Hall said. “We were hoping there wouldn’t be any queues out the door and we didn’t have queues at 8pm earlier in the day though, so that was encouraging.”
Hall said her office encouraged political parties and the public to observe the election in person at the Tumwater ballot processing center.
“We had a lot of watchers,” Hall said. “They were excited about the checks and balances. When they left, they felt very confident in our processes.”
Individuals interested in becoming observers may contact Control at 360-786-5408 or by email selections@co.thurston.wa.us. The public can also find live broadcasts of the Ballot Processing Center by visiting Audit service website.
Additional results were not released Friday because county offices were closed for Veterans Day.
Results so far
Incumbent John Snaza continued to trail his running mate, Deputy Derek Sanders, in the race for Thurston County Sheriff. However, Snaza cut into Sander’s early lead from Tuesday night.
On Thursday, Snaza won 45.3% (35,875 votes) compared to 54.3% (42,955) for Sanders. On Tuesday, Sanders won 54.7% (35,517 votes) and Snaza – 44.9% (29,138 votes).
In the Thurston County Commissioner’s race in District 3, Democrat Ty Menser’s lead also narrowed slightly with Thursday’s results.
Menser won 56.4% (46,544 votes) compared to Republican Vivian Eason’s 43.5% (35,873 votes). On Tuesday, Menser won 57.6% (39,089 voters) and Eason won 42.3% (28,661 voters).
Votes in favor of the Thurston County Commission expansion measure still outnumbered those opposed. If approved, the measure would add two new seats to the existing three-member board. Two new positions will be filled in 2023.
About 54.4% (44,106) voted to approve Thurston County Proposition 1 and 45.6% (36,935) voted no, according to Thursday’s vote count.
A similar proposal to expand the Port of Olympia Commission did not receive the same support as the county’s proposal Thursday. About 50.2% (40,321) voted for it, and 49.8% (40,068) voted against it.
The advantages established in the early stages were slightly reduced in other races as well.
In the auditor race, Democrat Mary Hall had about 62.1% (51,334 votes) by Thursday. Her opponent, Sal Militello, a Republican, won 37.8% (31,251 votes).
Incumbent Clerk Linda Enlow led with 56.9% (40,133 votes) over Tonya Moore with 39.7% (28,021 votes). Both candidates ran as Democrats.
Democrat Steven Drew, the incumbent assessor, won 56.9% (46,346 votes) and independent Dave Kolar won 42.9% (34,909 votes).
Incumbent Treasurer Jeff Gadman leads with 63.8% (50,260 votes) on Thursday. His opponent, Jeff Curry, received 35.8% (28,163 votes).
Coroner Gary Warnock and District Attorney John Tunheim ran for re-election unopposed.
