The PDN wrote this race off on election night, and the ballots kept coming in anyway. District 3 votes late, and the West End is only now showing up in the count. More than 300 Clallam ballots won’t count unless voters fix them, and yours could be one of them.
The Count Isn’t Finished
On election night, the Peninsula Daily News ran “French in lead for Clallam County commissioner” and called a second term “likely.” At that point, 17,999 ballots had been counted.
As of Friday, the county’s official results page shows 22,172 ballots counted. Jake now has 8,972 votes (41.32%) to Mike French’s 12,722 (58.60%), a gap of about 3,750 votes. That means Jake has gained almost two points since election night. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State’s ballot file shows about 41,855 Clallam ballots returned.
That leaves roughly 19,000 still to be counted. Clallam has also climbed to #3 in the state for voter turnout.
District 3 votes late. Ballot returns over time show District 1 (Sequim area) voters return their ballots early, and District 3 (the “West End”) voters return theirs late, and in the latest jump in returns, about 40% came from District 3.
None of that guarantees a different result, since Jake still trails by a real margin. But “likely” isn’t the same as counted, and every legal ballot deserves to count.
Step 1: Check Your Ballot
Go to the Secretary of State’s Ballot Status Reports page and click “Check Your Ballot Status.” You can also check at VoteWA.gov.
Accepted: You’re done. Thank you.
Received / Pending: It’s still being processed. Check back in a day or two.
Challenged / Rejected: It will not count until you fix it. Go to Step 2.
Step 2: Fix a Challenged Ballot
As of the latest state file, 307 Clallam ballots are challenged. Most are for a signature that doesn’t match the one on file (171) or no signature at all (116). Both are fixable, and about 96 of the challenged ballots are in District 3.
Call Clallam County Elections at 360-417-2217, or stop by 223 E 4th St, Port Angeles. The county should also contact you with a cure form, but don’t wait for it. The deadline is close of business Monday, Nov. 23 (WAC 434-261-053). The county certifies the next day, Nov. 24 at 2 PM.
Step 3: Help Your Neighbors
Below the button on that same SOS page, there’s a form. Fill it out, and you’ll get the countywide ballot return file emailed to you. One West End resident did just that, found Forks-area neighbors with rejected ballots, and messaged them directly so they could fix their ballots in time. That’s how it’s done.
A tip of the hat to West End Voter, an independent, nonpartisan site tracking Clallam returns precinct by precinct: westendvoter.com. It’s updated by hand each evening after the county and state release new numbers, with the “last updated” date at the top. Its Challenged and Pending Ballots section breaks the numbers down by district and community without naming anyone. Tips and corrections go to solducvalleyresident@gmail.com.
Bottom Line
Check your ballot today. If it’s challenged, fix it before Nov. 23. Then text three friends and tell them to check theirs.
— Jeff
Our ballots are officially accepted! @jefftozzer, I literally said out loud in my kitchen that I needed "proof of life" from you, and then this Substack notification popped up immediately. We'll take it as sufficient proof that you're still kicking!
Projecting an outcome before every vote is counted is undermining the election process. A vote is someone’s voice; those voices deserve to be counted and heard, not silenced.