PACIFIC COUNTY — Voter turnout the day before Tuesday’s presidential primary neared 40% in Pacific County, one of the highest rates in the state heading into the final day that ballots could be returned.

As of Monday, March 11, 37.4% of voters in Pacific County had returned their presidential primary election ballot. That total ranks seventh in Washington state, trailing six counties — all but one of which, Jefferson County, have a smaller population than Pacific County.

Overall, statewide turnout sat at 26.3% as of March 11.

Nearly 9% of the ballots that have been returned to the county auditor’s office were being challenged by local election officials as of Monday evening, nearly double the statewide mark of 5%.

Pacific County Auditor Alex Gerow said that the reason for the vast majority of ballot challenges being made locally is because voters are forgetting to mark one of the two boxes on the yellow return envelope. By marking the appropriate box, they are stating that they declare their party preference is either for the Democratic or Republican Party and that they will not participate in the presidential nomination process of any other political party in 2024.

Voters whose ballots are being challenged are sent letters by county election officials along with the required forms in order to cure their ballot and ensure it can still be counted.

Coverage of the presidential primary can be found in next week’s print edition, and results can be found at tinyurl.com/yu9kcrx8. Later arriving ballots are expected to be counted throughout the week, with the county auditor’s office expecting to release more results later this week or early next week.