Election Night 2020 culminates tonight

It is Election Day, and no matter the outcome, Grays Harbor will be seeing new representation locally.

Many incumbents are running for office, but at least one local race is certain to feature a new elected official. This evening will feature the initial results that will lead to a new Grays Harbor County Commissioner to represent East County.

Jamie Nichols and Jill Warne are both first-time politicians, and one of them will be elected after results are certified.

In other races, Grays Harbor Commissioner Randy Ross faces Kevin Pine for that seat, all 19th and 24th District positions for state legislators are featured, and other regional contests join the Presidential race on the ballot.

As of Monday, 66.2% of nearly 49,000 Grays Harbor Voters and 77.3% of the nearly 17,000 Pacific County voters have already turned in their ballots. In 2016, approximately 74% of voters participated in Grays Harbor.

The Washington Secretary of State’s office issued a release ahead of Election Night, stating that in total more than 3 million registered voters in Washington state have already returned their ballots for the 2020 General Election. 

They tell KXRO that turnout is well ahead of the pace set at this point in 2016. 

“With such high participation already this election, we know voters are eager to learn the results,” said Lori Augino, elections director, Office of the Secretary of State. “Please be patient; results reporting is not instantaneous and there are processes in place to ensure the results are displayed accurately.” 

County election officials estimate the results released on election night will account for as much as 60% of the state’s ballots expected for the 2020 General Election.

Ballots are not tabulated by counties until after the voting period closes at 8 pm. Residents must have their ballots postmarked or turned into one of the many local ballot boxes by 8 pm in order to be counted.

Grays Harbor

Aberdeen
Aberdeen Tesla Parking Lot
Wishkah and F St
Cosmopolis
Cosmopolis City Hall
1300 First St, Cosmopolis
Hoquiam
Grays Harbor YMCA
2500 Simpson Ave, Hoquiam, WA
Elma
Elma City Hall
W Main St, Elma (Alley between City Hall and Fire Station)
McCleary
123 3rd St, McCleary
Montesano
Grays Harbor County Courthouse
Corner of W Broadway Ave and 1st St N, Montesano, WA 98563
Oakville
Oakville City Hall
E Main St, Oakville
Ocean Shores
Ocean Shores Convention Center
120 W Chance Ala Mer Ave, Ocean Shores, WA
Taholah
Quinault Indian Nation Administration Building
1214 Aalis Dr, Taholah, WA
Westport
Westport City Hall
604 N Montesano St, Westport, WA

Pacific County

Bay Center
County Park Entrance
Park St, Bay Center, WA
Chinook
Chinook Community Center
810 Highway 101, Chinook, WA
Long Beach
7013 Sandridge Rd, Long Beach, WA
Menlo
5 Fair Ln, Menlo, WA
Naselle
Washington State Patrol Parking Lot
797 SR 4, Naselle, WA
Ocean Park
Ocean Park Senior Center
21603 O Ln, Ocean Park, WA
Raymond
211 Commercial St, Raymond, WA
South Bend
Pacific County Courthouse
Address: 300 Memorial Drive, South Bend, WA
Tokeland
Shoalwater Bay Tribal Government Complex
2373 Tokeland Rd, Tokeland, WA

Drop-box locations can be found on the Office of the Secretary of State’s official website or by visiting VoteWA.gov, Washington’s online voter portal.

Counties will continue to receive valid ballots by mail after Nov. 3. Any ballot postmarked on Nov. 3 or earlier is considered on-time and will be processed.

Following the initial results release on election night, no further results will be reported until Nov. 4. 

Results will be regularly posted throughout the 21-day certification window. Each county will post their next tabulation date and time along with how many estimated ballots they have left on-hand to process each time they update their results. 

“After Election Day, county election offices will continue working diligently to count every valid vote throughout the entire certification period,” said Julie Anderson, Pierce County Auditor. “This is a normal and expected process during any given election.”

Results are not final until counties certify them on Nov. 24.

The Secretary of State has until Dec. 3 to certify the 2020 General Election returns.