The Lewis County Auditor’s Office will mail ballots to all military and overseas voters within the Toledo School District and Lewis County Fire District 17 on March 22.
As required by law, the mailing comes 30 days ahead of the April 23 special election.
“The advanced mailing provides voters in the military or overseas with time to receive their ballot, learn about the candidates and/or issues, and return their ballot in a timely manner,” the Lewis County Auditor’s Office stated in a news release.
For military and overseas voters, the date on the ballot declaration associated with the voter’s signature determines the validity of the ballot. The signature on the ballot declaration must be dated no later than election day and must be received in Lewis County Auditor’s Office one day prior to election certification, which, for special elections, takes place 10 days after election day.
Military and overseas voters have the option to return ballots via fax or email, but those ballots must be received by the auditor’s office no later than 8 p.m. on election day.
Voters can check their voter registration status and voter registration address and register to vote online at www.votewa.gov.
More election information is available online at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov.
Local ballots will be mailed to voters on April 3, according to the Lewis County Auditor’s Office. Ballots should begin arriving in mailboxes approximately April 8.
Not every Lewis County voter will receive a ballot for this election, as each proposition is only voted on by members of their respective districts.
The three propositions on the April 23 special election ballot are:
• A Toledo School District request to renew its educational programs and operations levy from 2025 to 2027, with $1,640,000 to be collected in 2025, $1,780,000 to be collected in 2026 and $1,930,000 to be collected in 2027. The estimated levy rate would be $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed value.
• A Lewis County Fire District 17 request for a levy lid lift of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value for fire services. The district’s current fire levy rate is 59 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
• A Lewis County Fire District 17 request for a for a levy lid lift of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for EMS services. The district’s current EMS levy rate is 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
Local ballots must be postmarked by April 23 or returned to one of our ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. on election night.
