We’re in the last week before off-year election ballots are due to be returned. If you want your vote to be counted on election night next Tuesday, it’s time to get it in the mail in the provided stamped envelope.

It’s still a little odd even after many years to regard Washington as having something more like an Election Month instead of an Election Day, as mail-in ballots are cast and straggle in. Except in the case of really distinct wins, it’s our policy to avoid declaring winners until the Friday after election day, when same-week ballots are added to the totals.

In any event, this week’s edition of the Chinook Observer is the last before the Nov. 7 election. We hope to publish a candidate Question and Answer for the Long Beach mayoral race, necessitated by one of the candidates jumping back in following the happy resolution of a serious health scare.

These Q&As provide detailed dives into candidates’ positions — so detailed that we suspect most readers don’t spend a lot of time on them. However, we believe they are an important part of our informational mission. They are something of a compromise, perhaps being less revealing than a probing sit-down interview with a reporter would be, but on the other hand giving candidates an unfiltered opportunity to present their views in carefully considered ways. We only do them in contested races, partly because they consume quite a lot of precious news space.

So far this year we’ve focused on two contested Ocean Beach School Board races, one for an opening seat on the Port of Peninsula Commission, and one on Ilwaco City Council. Here are links:

School board write-in race: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/election-2023-write-ins-vying-for-school-board-seat/article_c6cf2084-722b-11ee-ae87-4b73c2250c6a.html. In this race, the incumbent John Holtermann dropped out after ballots were printed, so a vote for him will be invalid. Instead, write in the name of either Karen Stephens or Claire Bruncke. It’s important to get the spelling right.

School board incumbent versus challenger: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/election-2023-incumbent-faces-challenger-in-school-board-race/article_302747d8-71f9-11ee-908c-ef31aa273e2f.html.

Port of Peninsula soon-to-be open seat: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/election-2023-lucero-mikkola-vying-for-port-commission-seat/article_2a8045ee-6c92-11ee-9694-0fb2e1bc0c29.html.

Ilwaco City Council incumbent versus challenger: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/election-2023-ilwaco-councilor-faces-challenger-in-re-election-bid/article_330966a2-6c5e-11ee-9c40-c798b6c311dc.html. Plus a separate statement from a candidate who did not respond to our questions: https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/rubio-details-ilwaco-council-candidacy/article_4a3446ca-6c5f-11ee-b02e-2fb8f981d530.html.

This is the kind of thing that only local news media is in a position to do, a small but important step in nurturing democracy. We appreciate the opportunity to do it for you. Preliminary election results will be posted on www.chinookoberver.com soon after 8 p.m. on election night.

Thank you for your support of the Chinook Observer.