Lewis County started its special filing period for upcoming local elections at 8 a.m. Monday, May 19.
The special filing period lasts for three days and will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 21. The supplemental filing period gives residents of Lewis County another chance to register to run for any of the available offices that still had no registered candidates at the end of the standard filing week on Friday, May 9.
There are 30 elected positions still up for grabs in the county, including three spots on the Morton School District Board of Directors, three positions on the Packwood Fire District Board of Commissioners and many others.
May filing periods happen in preparation for the primary election, which will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5, followed by the general election, which will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Unlike partisan office elections in the state, which always have a primary election no matter the number of candidates, many of the nonpartisan elections will skip the primary and go straight to the general election.
With the top-two primary process used in Washington state, nonpartisan offices with only two candidates skip the primary election at the end of the summer and go straight to a head-to-head general election in the fall.
Nonpartisan offices with more than two candidates will be included in the primary election. The two highest vote-getters in the primary election move on to race head-to-head in the general election in November.
The special filing period, however, proves an exception to the rule as all candidates who register for office at this time will appear on the general election ballot in November. That means even if an office receives five candidates before the end of the day on Wednesday, they will all go to the general election.
The special filing period also has no withdrawal period, and any positions that still have no candidates by the end will be considered void and will be removed from the year's ballots. Any existing incumbents for those positions will retain their seats until the next scheduled election.
Residents of Lewis County can register for the positions available in the special filing period online, by mail or in person at the Lewis County Auditor’s Office inside the Lewis County Courthouse. To register online, visit https://tinyurl.com/bdebs87u.
Mail-in registration must be received by the Lewis County Auditor’s Office by the end of the filing period at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21.
To see a list of offices that will be on the ballot this election season, or to see a list of candidates who have filed to run for those offices, visit the Lewis County Auditor’s Office website at https://tinyurl.com/ycym62r8.
Positions available for open filing period are listed below.
Big Creek-Mineral Fire District 17
Fire District 17 Commissioner Position 2
Boistfort
Boistfort School District Director District 2
Chehalis
Chehalis School District Director at-large Position 4
Doty-Dryad-Meskill Cemetery District 3
Cemetery District 3 Commissioner Position 2
Lake Mayfield Water-Sewer District 6
Water-sewer district 6 Commissioner Position 2
Morton
Morton School District Director District 2
Morton School District Director District 3
Morton School District Director At-large Position 5
Mossyrock
City Council Position 1
City Council Position 2
Fire District No. 3 Commissioner Position 2
Napavine Cemetery District 9
Cemetery District 9 Commissioner Position 1
Cemetery District 9 Commissioner Position 2
Onalaska Cemetery District 6
Cemetery District 6 Commissioner Position 2
Packwood
Fire District 10 Commissioner Position 1
Fire District 10 Commissioner Position 2
Fire District 10 Commissioner Position 5
Water-Sewer District 3 Commissioner Position 2
Pe Ell
Pe Ell School District Director Position 3
Pe Ell School District Director At-large Position 4
Randle
Fire District 14 Commissioner Position 2
Water-Sewer District 1 Commissioner Position 1
Water-Sewer District 1 Commissioner Position 2
Water-Sewer District 1 Commissioner Position 3
Salkum-Silver Creek Fire District 8
Fire District 8 Commissioner Position 2
Toledo
City Council Position 1
Cemetery District 5 Commissioner Position 1
Cemetery District 5 Commissioner Position 2
White Pass
White Pass School District Director Position 1
White Pass School District Director Position 4
