Presidential primary ends March 12

Presidential primary ends March 12

Washington voters will help pick the major political party nominees for president in March.

The state’s presidential primary asks participating voters to mark and sign party declarations on their ballot return envelopes, as part of state law that sets the process for how the Democrat and Republican parties pick their candidates and who gets on the ballot for the general election this November. The primary has special conditions unlike regular elections in Washington. More information about the process is available at sos.wa.gov/elections, the website of the Washington secretary of state’s elections department, which administers statewide elections.

For the Democrats, names on the ballot are President Joe Biden and Dean Phillips. Marianne Williamson also appears but has suspended her campaign.

Republican candidates are Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, plus three who have suspended their campaigns or dropped out of the race–Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

March 12, the official election day, is the last date that voters can cast ballots by mailing them or depositing them in official ballot boxes in their counties. County election offices mailed ballots on Feb. 23 to registered voters.

For a list of ballot boxes or other local information, voters can contact the Pierce County election department at elections@piercecountywa.gov and 253-798-8683 and the King County election department at elections@kingcounty.gov and 206-296-8683.