Thurston County candidates who appeared ahead in early results Tuesday held onto their leads through Thursday's tallies, but thousands of votes have yet to be counted.
The Auditor's Office released an election update Thursday evening. The results indicated 84,613 votes had been counted but an estimated 35,000 remained. That means many races could still swing in the days ahead.
So far, about 43.3% of registered Thurston County voters participated in the election, but that percentage will increase as the remaining votes are counted.
Auditor Mary Hall previously said she expected the percentage to eventual surpass 60%. She said the county's voting centers in Olympia and Lacey were very busy on election day, but the day went well for her office overall.
"We were grateful that people didn't wait until the very last minute," Hall said. "We were hoping to not have lines out the door and while we did earlier in the day, we didn't have any at 8 p.m., so that was encouraging."
Hall said her office had encouraged the political parties and public to observe the election in-person at the Ballot Processing Center in Tumwater.
"We had a lot of observers through," Hall said. "They were fascinated by the checks and balances. When they left, they felt very confident in our processes."
People interested in being observers can contact the Auditor's Office at 360-786-5408 or email elections@co.thurston.wa.us. The public can also find livestreams of the Ballot Processing Center by visiting the Auditor's Office website.
Additional tallies were not released Friday because county offices were closed in observance of Veterans Day.
The results so far
Incumbent John Snaza continued to trail Deputy Derek Sanders, his employee, in the race for Thurston County Sheriff. However, Snaza did narrow Sander's early lead from Tuesday night.
Snaza had 45.3% (35,875 votes) compared to Sanders' 54.3% (42,955) as of Thursday. On Tuesday, Sanders claimed 54.7% (35,517 votes) while Snaza earned 44.9% (29,138 votes).
In the District 3 Thurston County Commissioner race, Democrat Tye Menser's lead also narrowed slightly with Thursday's results.
Menser earned 56.4% (46,544 votes) compared to Republican Vivian Eason's 43.5% (35,873 votes). On Tuesday, Menser had 57.6% (39,089 voters) and Eason got 42.3% (28,661 voters).
Votes in favor of a measure to expand the Thurston County Commission continued to outnumber those against it. If approved, the measure would add two new seats to the existing three-member board. The two new positions would be filled in 2023.
In Thursday's tallies, about 54.4% (44,106) voted to approve Thurston County Proposition No. 1 and 45.6% (36,935) voted against it.
A similar proposition to expand the Port of Olympia Commission did not get as much support as the county proposition as of Thursday. About 50.2% (40,321) voted in favor of it and 49.8% (40,068) voted against it.
Leads that were established early on slightly decreased in other races as well.
In the Auditor race, Democrat Mary Hall claimed about 62.1% (51,334 votes) by Thursday. Her challenger Sal Militello, a Republican, earned 37.8% (31,251 votes).
Incumbent Clerk Linda Enlow led with 56.9% (40,133 votes) over Tonya Moore, who claimed 39.7% (28,021 votes). Both candidates ran as Democrats.
Democrat Steven Drew, the incumbent Assessor, claimed 56.9% (46,346 votes) while independent Dave Kolar earned 42.9% (34,909 votes).
Incumbent Treasurer Jeff Gadman led with 63.8% (50,260 votes) on Thursday. His challenger, Jeff Curry received 35.8% (28,163 votes).
Coroner Gary Warnock and Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim ran for re-election unopposed.
