Commission Appointment Decided by Primary

Lopez and surrounding islands will be without a commissioner until late September, after the results of the county's Democratic Primary are known.

At that time, the two sitting commissioners will formally appoint the winner of the September Democratic primary as interim commissioner.

Both Bob Myhr and Jamie Stephens filed to run in the primary during a special filing period Aug. 3-5 at the county Elections Department in Friday Harbor.

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, county commissioners Alan Lichter and Kevin Ranker agreed to disagree, then wasted little time in deciding to let voters determine who will fill the position of District 3 commissioner for the remainder of the year.

Ranker stuck to his support for Stephens, while Lichter refused to change his support for Myhr.

The upcoming primary will be a vote-by-mail election in which Democratic and Republican ballots will be sent to all county voters.

The Democratic ballot will contain the names of Stephens and Myhr, while the Republican ballot will be blank, but will contain a space for write-in votes.

All local citizens have the right to fill out either, but not both of the ballots, regardless of their party affiliation.

San Juan County Auditor Si Stephens said state election law requires both ballots to be submitted to the voters even when one party doesn't have a candidate. Si Stephens noted that only one ballot would have been required if Washington State had switched to a single primary, in which case the top two vote getters would qualify for the November election, regardless of their party affiliation. But that proposal, which was recommended by the Washington Secretary of State, was thrown out last month by a Thurston County judge.

The auditor estimates that the total cost of the primary election countywide will be about $18,000. The county would have saved $1,000 had there been no Republican primary.

Ballots must be received by county voters no later than Sept. 2. They must be returned by Sept. 20.

You have until Aug. 20 to register to vote by mail, and until Sept. 5 to register in person at the San Juan County Elections Department in Friday Harbor.

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