More than a third of Bainbridge Island voters have already cast ballots for Tuesday’s General Election.
According to the Kitsap County Election Division, county election workers have received a total of 6,761 ballots from Bainbridge by early Tuesday.
With a total of 18,769 active registered voters on Bainbridge, that puts turnout at 36 percent so far.
More votes are expected to pour in during the day and early evening.
Ballots will be accepted at drop box locations until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7. Ballots mailed to the Elections Division must be postmarked Nov. 7 or earlier to be counted.
It appears that turnout on Bainbridge will easily surpass the countywide average.
Kitsap County Elections Manager Kyle Joyce said turnout for all of Kitsap County is expected to be in the 39 percent to 40 percent range.
Kitsap elections officials reported that 41,750 ballots had been returned through Monday, Nov. 6. That put countywide turnout at 25.45 percent at the start of the week.
In Kitsap, 64 positions are up for election this year.
Bainbridge voters will choose three members of the city council, plus vote in one contested race each for the school board and park district.
Matthew Tirman and Theodore “Ted” Jones are vying for the District 3, South Ward seat on the Bainbridge council now held by Roger Townsend.
Rasham Nassar is challenging incumbent Councilman Wayne Roth for the District 5, Central Ward council position.
Newcomers Joe Deets and Kevin Fetterly are running for the District 7, North Ward council seat. (The incumbent, Councilman Val Tollefson, decided against seeking a second term.)
Voters will also choose a Bainbridge Island School Board member for the Director District 5 position.
Incumbent Sheila Jakubik and challenger Christina Wakefield are both seeking the position.
In the District 2 race for the Bainbridge Island School Board, incumbent Mike Spence is also seeking re-election.
Although Judith McLaughlin’s name appears on the ballot, she withdrew from the race in early September, citing unforeseen demands on her time.
In the November General Election’s other contested race on the island, incumbent Park Commissioner Kirk B. Robinson is running for another term in Position 5 on the park board. The challenger is Michael Pollock.
Two incumbents are running unopposed this year, both for the Bainbridge Island Fire Department’s board of commissioners.
Bruce G. Alward is running for Position 3, and Ernst “Fritz” von Ibsch is seeking election to Position 4.
Bainbridge voters will also help decide a request by the Kitsap Regional Library for an increase in its property tax levy.
If approved by voters, the library district’s levy would increase by 8 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, from the current rate of 35 cents per $1,000 to 43 cents per $1,000.
Library officials said the estimated increase for a $300,000 property will be $24 in 2018.
Other big races in Kitsap County include mayor seats in Bremerton and Poulsbo; four council seats in Bremerton; four council positions in Port Orchard; and three council positions in Poulsbo.
More than 4.2 million voters in Washington state have received ballots for the 2017 General Election.
According to Washington state election officials, there are 3,738 candidates in 2,868 races in this year’s General Election.
And for the first time since 1989, no initiative or referendum appears on the statewide ballot.
The three advisory votes on this year’s ballot ask voters if the three bills passed by the Washington State Legislature that imposed or raised taxes should be approved or repealed.
The advisory votes, which are nonbinding and won’t change state law, are:
• Advisory Vote No. 16 (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1597, which increased the food fish excise tax rate on certain salmon and game fish.);
• Advisory Vote No. 17 (Engrossed House Bill 2163, which expanded the business and occupation tax and narrowed certain retail sales and use tax exemptions.); and
• Advisory Vote No. 18 (Engrossed House Bill 2242, which imposed an additional state property tax for common schools.)
