Yakima Auditor says It’s Okay If You’re Not Voting in the Primary Election

Yakima County Auditor Charles Ross says he understands if you are a registered voter and you're choosing not to vote in the March 12 presidential primary.

MANY BALLOTS BEING RETURNED ARE MARKED INCORRECTLY

So far 8.6% or about 11,000 of the more than 127,000 ballots sent out have been returned to the auditor's office. Ross says many ballots are being returned with people not marking the party affiliation box on the outside of the envelope. He says he knows that some people may be doing that in protest but he has no way of knowing that.

IF YOU DIDN'T FILL OUT THE BALLOT CORRECTLY YOU'LL BE HEARING FROM THE AUDITORS OFFICE

As a result he says the auditors office must contact voters to see if they've forgotten to fill out the ballot correctly. He says if voters want to protest it's just best to not participate.
This is not an election so Ross says don't think by not participating you're skipping a vote in an election in the state.

IT'S NOT AN ELECTION IT'S A BAROMETER FOR POLITICAL PARTIES

Ross, who says this presidential primary is a waste of tax dollars, says this is simply a barometer election for parties in the state. The democrat and republican parties use the information to determine what candidates people will support in the general election. But Ross says that's really not needed in Washington state since a majority of people vote on the democratic side.

IF YOU DO VOTE REMEMBER THERE ARE RULES

If you do participate remember you must pick a party and then pick a candidate within the party for your vote to count.
Your presidential primary ballot is due on March 12.
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