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Page A-20 - She#on-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016
Chris Reykdal
Superintendent of
Attorney General Public Lands Public Instruction
Paid for by the Mason County Democratic Women's Club
do Maril, 360 E.
St. Edward Catholic Church, 601 West C Street in Shehon
Friday, October 28, 2016 from 11 am to 2 pm
Hosted by the
Donnie J. O'Neill Guild and Mary Bridge Brigade
Tickets Available at the Door
or from a Guild Member
Proceeds benefit Mary Bridge
Children's Hospital
Journal photo by Michael Heinbach
Mason County election superintendent Fina Ormond, left, and auditor
Karen Herr display a sample ballot Oct. 21 at the county offices in Shelton.
Ormond and Herr will be extremely busy in making sure the county holds a
fair and accurate election on Nov. 8.
continued from page A-1
voting.
"-What's different about the presi-
dential election is voter turnout is
going to be close to 90 percent," Herr
said. "What people need to know is that
we have a limited staff here in Mason
County, so if people do not receive their
ballots by the next week, if they need
a replacement ballot, if they need to
find out if they're registered to vote or
if they have any questions whatsoever,
as soon as possible to come in and see
us and not wait until the last minute.
... We want to make sure every eligible
voter has that opportunity to vote. So,
come in, ask those questions, but do it
as soon as possible."
Voters can register by the Oct. 31
deadline, make sure they're registered,
update their address, view candidate
and ballot-measure information, and
find out where to return a ballot by go-
ing online at myvote.wa.gov. Another
online resource, specifically for Mason
County residents, is the county's vot-
effs guide. That can be found at http'J/
bit.ly/2e3Wa4N. Potential voters can
also email their questions to elections@
co.mason.wa.us.
"Elections are a high-stress, in-
tense job and normally, it really
starts the Monday after the ballots
go out," said Ormond, who has been
the county's election superintendent
since May of 2012. "For this election,
that started a few weeks ago. The
phone calls started coming. The in-
crease in registration was over 1,000
people between the primary and
now. After the second (presidential)
debate, our voter registration went
up by about 400 people. For a small
office of two and a half people, that's
not something we normally do in a
normal election."
In addition to having the option of
mailing in ballots, residents can sub-
mit their votes at any of the six drop
boxes located throughout the county.
Drop boxes can be found in Shelten,
Allyn, Belfair and Hoodsport. Not only
does that add convenience, it saves the
voter from having to buy or use a stamp
for a mail-in vote.
Voters have the opportunity to
weigh in on nine statewide measures,
four federal offices, 11 state offices, two
county commissioners' races and Prop-
osition 1, which if passed would create
a metropolitan parks district in unin-
corporated Mason County. In addition,
COUNTY BALLOT
DROP BOX LOCATIONS
• Mason County Offices
411 N. Fifth St., Shelton
• John L. Scott Building
23910 NE state Route 3, Belfair
• Port of AIlyn
18560 E. state Route 3,Allyn
• Hood Canal Visitor Center
150 N. Lake Cushman Road, Hoodsport
DROP BOXES WITH DRIVE-THROUGH
ACCESS
• Shelton Timberland Regional Library
710 W. Alder St., Shelton
• Kamilche Area, Mason County Fire District
4 station
3660 SE Old Olympic Highway, Shelton
county voters can vote for five at-large
commissioner positions on the parks
district, should it be approved.
Aside from a heavier-than-normal
turnout expected from this yeaffs vot-
ers, Herr and Ormond think the over-
all size of the ballot and the number of
items on which to vote will add to their
workload.
"The ballot is very large and that is
going to slow our process," Herr said.
"For presidential elections, we've hired
five more people for extra help. We
have observers that come and watch
the election that don't normally do so.
It all just takes a little bit of extra time
in a voting year like this one."
When asked~about the biggest mis-
conception voters have, both Herr and
Ormond agreed it has to do with filling
out the ballot to completion.
"We're always really surprised, but
people think you need to vote in every
race," Ormond said. "And you don't
need to vote in every race for your bal-
lot to be counted. If you just want to
vote for president, you can vote only
for president. If you just want to vote
on any single measure and leave ev-
erything else blank, you can do that
too."