County auditor predicts San Juan voter turnout will reach 90 percent

Sixty-three percent of voters in San Juan County had turned in their ballots by Monday morning, and County Auditor Milene Henley expected the final turnout to be 90 percent. Tuesday is Election Day. Ballots must be postmarked by 3 p.m. Tuesday. If you miss the post office, you have until 8 p.m. to drop your ballot off at the county Elections Department at Second and Reed streets, or in a drop box in front of the County Courthouse, the Lopez Fire Station or the Orcas Senior Center.

November 3, 2008 4:15 pm
Election Day is Tuesday. Ballots must be postmarked by 3 p.m. that day. You have until 8 p.m. to place your ballot in a drop box or deliver it to the Elections Office in Friday Harbor.
Election Day is Tuesday. Ballots must be postmarked by 3 p.m. that day. You have until 8 p.m. to place your ballot in a drop box or deliver it to the Elections Office in Friday Harbor.

Sixty-three percent of voters in San Juan County had turned in their ballots by Monday morning, and County Auditor Milene Henley expected the final turnout to be 90 percent.

Tuesday is Election Day. Ballots must be postmarked by 3 p.m. Tuesday. If you miss the post office, you have until 8 p.m. to drop your ballot off at the county Elections Department at Second and Reed streets, or in a drop box in front of the County Courthouse, the Lopez Fire Station or the Orcas Senior Center.

History will be made Tuesday:

— San Juan County voters will help elect either the first African-American president or the first female vice president.

— The San Juans could send an islander to the state Senate for the first time in about 100 years.

— The County Council will have two new members. One will succeed Kevin Ranker of South San Juan, who opted to run for state Senate than for reelection. Another will succeed Alan Lichter of Orcas West, who lost in the primary.

— For the first time, the County Council will be comprised of members elected under the county charter, which was adopted in 2005.

Also on the ballot: Governor and other state offices.

Islanders seem to have a sense of the historic importance of this election.

“Our ballots are getting returned at a high rate. Voters aren’t waiting,” Elections Supervisor Doris Schaller said Oct. 24, when about one-fourth of 11,579 ballots had been returned. “That’s excellent for us, this early in the election.”