Voting opens for August 1 primary election

The mailing of Whatcom County primary ballots has started the countdown to the primary on Tuesday, August 1.

The race for Whatcom County Executive is the most contested with five people challenging Satpal Sidhu to lead the county. The top two finishers in each race will move on to the November 7 general election. Races that have two candidates or are uncontested will not be in the primary, such as several Blaine school board positions and all of the Blaine City Council seats. 

Below are the positions up that will most impact Blaine and Birch Bay residents:

• Whatcom County Executive – Misty Flowers, Alicia Rule, Satpal Sidhu, Dan Purdy, Barry Buchanan and Sukhwant Gill

• Whatcom County Council District 4 – Mark Stremler, Kathy Kershner and Katherine Orlowski

• Whatcom County Council At Large Position B – Atul Deshmane, Jon Scanlon, Hannah Ordos and Jerry Burns

• Blaine school board – Tana Perkins Reneau, Ben Lazarus and Dean Berkeley

The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office mailed primary ballots to registered Whatcom County voters on July 12. Registered voters can start voting immediately by mail, drop box returns or in-person at the auditor’s office after receiving their ballots.

The auditor’s office asks voters to contact the office if they don’t receive ballots by Wednesday, July 19. The office can replace lost or damaged ballots.

Ballots must be returned in a drop box by 8 p.m. August 1 or ballots returned by mail need to be postmarked by August 1. The auditor’s office does not recommend mailing ballots after Tuesday, July 25, according to its website.

There are 21 drop boxes in Whatcom County for the primary, including at Blaine Public Library, North Whatcom Fire and Rescue’s Birch Bay station and Custer Elementary School.

Whatcom County residents who want to register to vote or change their address online need to do so by Monday, July 24. Starting July 25, people needing to register to vote or update their address will need to go to the auditor’s office. The office will be open for those services until 8 p.m. August 1.

The auditor’s office will host public election center tours on security measures and ballot processing. The tours will be held from 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, July 25 through Friday, July 28. People interested in attending need to RSVP to Kellye Conner at 360/778-5108 or kconner@co.whatcom.wa.us.

Whatcom County has 158,677 registered voters, according to the latest data from the auditor’s office.

The auditor’s office is located in suite 103 of the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Avenue in Bellingham. It will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays from July 12 through July 31. The office is open evening hours on Election Day, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. August 1.

For more information on voting in the August primary or other election information, visit the auditor’s office at whatcomcounty.us/1574/elections.