Washington’s presidential primary election has been moved to Tuesday, March 10, one week after Super Tuesday on March 3. Although ballot packets arrive this Friday, Feb. 21, you may want to wait until Super Tuesday to verify your candidate is still in the running before voting, as some candidates usually drop out.
Your ballot will be mailed to you with a stamped return envelope if you’re registered by March 2, or it can be handed to you or printed from an online file if registering after March 2.
Contact the Benton County or Yakima County auditor’s office for registration information, or if you haven’t received your ballot by Feb. 28.
Registered voters and those preregistered who will be 18 years old by the general election on Nov. 3 are eligible to vote in the primary. You can register to vote or update your voter information online through March 2. After March 2, you may still register or update your information in person at the Benton County or Yakima County auditor’s office though Election Day on March 10.
Voters in Washington do not declare a party when registering to vote, but to participate in the Presidential Primary, you must mark one party box and sign the declarations on the return envelope.
Both the Democratic and Republican ballots will appear on a single (consolidated) ballot. Unlike other elections, you may only vote for one printed candidate on the entire ballot page.
For your vote to count, the candidate you mark on the ballot must match the political party declaration (box) you mark on the return envelope. If you vote both sides of the ballot, or the opposite side of the ballot, your vote will not count.
If mailing your ballot, please mail by March 7 to ensure it’s postmarked by March 10.
If voting after March 7, your best bet is to put your ballot in your local ballot box. You can find a list of ballot box locations on the Benton County and Yakima County auditor’s website.
If you’re notified that your ballot was rejected because you forgot to sign it, you can fix that by contacting the auditor’s office. You will need to work quickly because the time for certifying the primary is short.
For more information on the presidential primary please visit the Secretary of State website.
