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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Friday is the deadline to file for public office By Noah Haglund Herald Writer EVERETT -- Battles for the White House and the governor's mansion dominated last year's general election, but this coming November, Snohomish County voters get to fill posts closer to home. A whole bunch of them. More than 175 races are up for grabs, including spots representing school, water and fire districts. That's more than three times the number of political positions on last year's ballot. The local races tend to appear in odd years, state and federal offices in even years. "This is the year that the offices are up that make the biggest impact on our daily lives," said Auditor Carolyn Weikel, whose office handles elections in the county. "The odd years are just so important, and I wish more people would come out." Candidate filing began Monday morning at the Auditor's Office on the first floor of the county's Administration West Building. By mid-afternoon, more than 100 candidates had signed up. Filing continues daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday. The primary election is Aug. 18 and the general election is Nov. 3. This year, for the first time, candidates must file electronically. They still have to go to the Auditor's Office in person to do that. An automated system sends an e-mail if anybody else is running for the same position. Among this year's races are three county council seats, plus mayor's offices in Brier, Everett, Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Index, Lynnwood, Monroe, Mukilteo, Stanwood and Woodway. Those municipalities and others have council races. Positions are available in 15 school districts, 22 fire districts and seven water districts, three sewer districts and three hospital districts. The ports of Edmonds and Everett have other open spots, while four at-large seats are up on the East County Parks and Recreation District. If any races fail to attract candidates, the Auditor's Office opens a special three-day filing period. In 2007, that happened for two Stanwood City Council seats, as well as one seat each on the Lake Stevens and Stanwood-Camano school boards. Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. How to file for office For information on filing for political races in Snohomish County, go to www.snoco.org and type "election" in the keyword search box in the middle of the Web page. The site lists offices up for election, qualifications for office and filing fees, if applicable. The county elections division also can be reached at 425-388-3444. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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