Election 2021: Less than half of Kitsap voters expected to return ballots

BREMERTON ― Ballots for the 2021 election in Kitsap County, affecting the makeup of governing boards in cities, school districts, fire commissions and more, are due Tuesday.

But compared with 2020, the Kitsap County Auditor's Office expects far fewer voters to weigh in.

Roughly 20% of the county's 186,632 voters had returned ballots through the weekend, according to Kitsap County Auditor Paul Andrews. He expects the usual rush of ballots on the last day to push that number somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% for turnout.

More: KITSAP COUNTY ELECTION GUIDE: Your guide to school board races, city council elections and more

That's a far cry from the 83.8% who cast ballots in the 2020 election, one headlined by the presidential race between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump. So far, it appears 2020 will be an "anomaly" in terms of voter turnout, Andrews said.

"It's going back to the way things were before (2020)," he said.

The record for turnout in an election in Kitsap was in 2008, when 87% of registered voters cast a ballot.

Ballots postmarked Tuesday or turned into one of the county's 25 drop boxes will be counted. Andrews noted that it appears the number of ballots returned by mail versus those collected in a dropbox will once again be roughly half for each. In 2020, dropbox popularity surged, to the place roughly 75% of all ballots were returned.

The races will include those for mayor in Bremerton and Poulsbo, along with numerous city council contests from Bainbridge Island to Port Orchard. Many seats on the boards of area school, port and water districts, fire commissions and parks boards will also be decided.

Those who need to register to vote can do so Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at one of the three county vote centers. They are at the Kitsap County Administration Building, 619 Division St. in Port Orchard; the Marvin Williams Recreation Center at

725 Park Ave. in Bremerton; and the Poulsbo Fire Station, 911 NE Liberty Road. The voting centers also offer services for those lost or did not receive their ballots in the mail, voters needing to change their addresses, and voters wishing to vote using the Accessible Voting Unit.

Auditor assessing options in Bremerton race where ballots went to voters in wrong district

An error by the auditor's office allowed some voters in a neighborhood off Kitsap Way to cast ballots for the wrong Bremerton City Council race. By the time the error was caught, about 37 ballots had been cast in the District 6 race pitting Councilman Mike Simpson against Anna Mockler ― though the residents should've been voting in the District 5 race between Councilman Michael Goodnow and challenger Matthew Adams.

Andrews said the auditor's office hand-delivered last week 2/3 of the new ballots for the approximately 400 that were erroneous. The rest of the ballots were given to the post office, where they were rushed to the remaining homes, Andrews said.

The error occurred when a new voting precinct was created for the area, but the voters were placed within District 6, rather than District 5. Andrews said he was still assessing how the auditor's office hadn't caught the error, even as Simpson had informed the auditor's office staff of the error back in June.

Andrews said that if the District 6 race comes within 37 votes, his office is likely to petition to hold a new vote. A hand recount may also be necessary if the margin is within half a percentage point. He said his office is still consulting with the state's Secretary of State for guidance. Simpson defeated Mockler by 73 votes in 2019.

Josh Farley is a reporter covering the military and Bremerton for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-9227, josh.farley@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @joshfarley.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Less than half of Kitsap voters expected to return ballots in election