Ballot Return Update for Douglas and Chelan County

Here is a quick update on ballot returns in Douglas and Chelan County as of October 28th.

Because of Thursday's suspicious powder incident at the Douglas County Courthouse's elections department in Waterville, the county did not process any ballots on Friday. The courthouse was closed Friday out of precaution.

Douglas County Auditor Thad Duvall said they are getting their workroom ready today and will be back to processing ballots again this afternoon.

"It has put us about a day and a half behind, but I think we will be able to catch up." explained Duvall, "It might mean that we will count a few less ballots by the time we get to election night, but we will for sure get them all counted and ready for certification after the election."

Duvall added he believes returns in Douglas County should currently be around 20% after counting ballots left in drop boxes over the weekend. He said returns have been light so far, so he's expecting a roughly 45% turnout.

Chelan County auditor Skip Moore said although they've only processed about 5% of the county's ballots, he believes participation in the county will be around 55-60%.

Tomorrow, October 29th, also represents an important deadline according to Moore.

"For online registrations, as well as people mailing in their registration cards, the deadline is tomorrow." added Moore, "Anything beyond that, people will still be able to register for the election, however they'll have to come into our office and do it in person."

Moore stated that after Thursday's incident at the Douglas County Courthouse, they are inspecting ballots as they come in to see if anything seems out of the ordinary. Otherwise, they're handling ballots as normal.