With no primary, focus moves to general election

Election officials across Washington state have sent vote-by-mail ballots to registered voters for the August primary election.

Unless, of course, one lives in a county such as Wahkiakum County, which has no contested races on the ballot, and therefore, has no need for a primary election.

However, election activities continue.

Several positions on the 2019 election ballot drew no candidates, and the Wahkiakum auditor's office will hold a special filing period Aug. 12-14. Candidates can file 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the auditor's office in the courthouse, Cathlamet.

The positions unclaimed in the original filing period include:

Non-Partisan Races

Fire District #4, commissioner position #3 (6-year term), filing fee: $13.68; Precincts: Rosedale, Columbia, Elochoman.

Cemetery District #1, commissioner position #2 (6-year term), no filing fee; precincts: all but Skamokawa, Deep River, Grays River and Rosburg/Altoona.

Cemetery District #2, commissioner position #2 (6-year term), no filing fee; Skamokawa precinct.

Cemetery District #2 commissioner position #3 (4-year unexpired term), no filing fee; Skamokawa precinct.

Port District # 1, commissioner position #1 (6-year term), filing fee: $ 13.68; Precincts: South Cathlamet and North Cathlamet.

Port District #2 commissioner position #3 (4-year unexpired term), filing fee: $ 13.68; Precincts: Deep River & Rosburg/Altoona.

Naselle/Grays River Valley School District #155, Director #1 (4-year term), no filing fee; Pacific And Wahkiakum (Grays River, Deep River) precincts.

Skamokawa Water & Sewer commissioner #3 (6-yr term), filing fee: $ 12.48; Parts of Skamokawa.

Meanwhile, with election and vote security a national concern, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman has expressed confidence that Washington has made significant progress in protecting the vote.

“Washington has launched an important tool to combat cyber threats," she worte in a July letter to county election officials. "All 39 counties have already begun using this tool – the VoteWA system.

“Since its launch, VoteWA has enabled us to fortify the cybersecurity of our state and county elections to a level simply not possible with our current systems. We have added multiple layers of firewalls, monitoring, and threat detection software to protect election servers from intrusion.

According to Wyman's letter, for the first time, county election officials will be able to issue and track ballots for processing in real time with the VoteWA statewide voter registration system in the August Primary. VoteWA will provide the access and security necessary to effectively implement the new Same Day Registration, Automatic Voter Registration, and Future Voter Program laws that took effect this year.