Lynnwood City Council challenger Chris Frizzell leads incumbent Benjamin Goodwin in early results of the Tuesday primary that eliminated candidate Douglas Jones, who had announced in late May that he had suspended his candidacy for the position.
Results posted Tuesday evening showed Frizzell with 44.06 percent of the early votes to 42.17 percent for Goodwin and 12.68 percent for Jones. Snohomish County elections officials had counted 2,889 Lynnwood ballots Tuesday with at least 1,229 uncounted.
Ballots counted countywide through Tuesday represent 83 percent of ballots on hand and 75-80 percent of the expected final turnout.
County officials plan to post updated returns each day through final certification of results Aug. 18.
Jones said in May that he had suspended his campaign for the office, but that his name still would appear on the ballot because he made the decision too late to withdraw his name.
The deadline for candidates to withdraw their names from the primary ballot was May 18, the Monday following the May 11-15 filing week.
If the Lynnwood position had only two candidates, it would have appeared only on the November ballot.
Having the office on Lynnwood primary ballots doesn’t cost money.
Snohomish County Elections Director Garth Fell said recently that an extra position on the primary ballot costs money only if it forces the county to print an extra ballot page or to send ballots to people who otherwise wouldn’t get them. Lynnwood ballots not only had the position with Jones’ name but also another city council position, a school board position, a county council position and the county executive’s position; all easily fit on one side of one page.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
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