POULSBO — Today is Election Day, the 2012 primary election. In contested elections, the two top vote-getters — regardless of political party affiliation — advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
Your ballot must be postmarked today or placed in a drop box today by 8 p.m. to be counted.
Ballots can be dropped off at the following locations:
— Poulsbo Fire Station, 911 NE Liberty Road, Poulsbo.
— Bainbridge Island Fire Department, 8895 Madison Ave. N.E., Bainbridge Island.
— Kitsap Regional Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton.
— Norm Dicks Government Center, upper parking lot, 345 Sixth St., Bremerton.
— Central Kitsap School District Administration Building, 9210 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale.
— Kitsap County Auditor Elections Division, 619 Division St., Port Orchard.
The Poulsbo Fire Station and the county Elections Division office are also voting locations with Accessible Voting Units, open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The auditor’s office will expects to post results at www.kitsapgov.com/aud/elections at 8:15 p.m.
Kitsap County voters will help decide which two candidates advance to the general election in 18 federal, state and local races. Visit https://wa.liveballot.com/kitsap for the online voters guide.
North Kitsap races on the primary ballot: 6th Congressional District representative; 1st Congressional District representative (one-month term); 23rd Legislative District representative, Position 2; Supreme Court justice, positions 2, 8 and 9; Court of Appeals Division 2, District 2, Position 2; and Superior Court judge, Position 7.
Some interesting things about this election:
— The two top vote-getters in the primary, regardless of political party, will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
— The office of Kitsap County Superior Court judge, Position 7, may be decided in the primary if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of all votes cast in that contest.
— Only precinct committee officer races that are contested will be on the ballot this year, and all of those contests will be decided in the primary.
— You will vote for representatives from the 1st and 6th Congressional districts. The 1st District winner will serve the rest of the term vacated by Jay Inslee, who is running for governor; that term ends Jan. 3. Also effective Jan. 3: Kitsap County becomes part of the 6th District because of reapportionment; we will elect a representative for the term ending Jan. 3, 2015.
— There are four candidates for County Commissioner, District 2. Voters in that district will select two candidates to advance to the general election. In the general, all voters countywide will vote for District 2 commissioner.
— There are approximately 146,000 registered voters in Kitsap County. County Auditor Walt Washington is predicting a voter turnout of 40 percent.
