Candidate filing ends with 20 offices still open

There are 20 offices that drew no candidates last week during the regular filing period for positions on the ballot this November, according to the County Auditor’s office, including no candidate for the Hoquiam City Council Ward 6 Position 12 seat.

There will be a second chance to file for these offices, a special three-day filing period, the timing of which has not yet been determined, said county elections administrator Scott Turnbull.

Mary Stinchfield was sworn into the Hoquiam Ward 6 position in late January, taking over for Councilwoman Angela Forkum, who had resigned the previous month to focus on family matters. At the end of the filing period no candidate had come forward for the position.

At the end of the filing period Friday, 111 of the 131 offices open for elections had at least one filed candidate. Of the 20 without a candidate, half were school board offices and five were fire district offices. There are also unfiled positions open in Cemetery District 1, Water District 8 and Park District 1.

“Right now the state wants us to hold it after the primary,” said Turnbull, adding that the auditor’s office is in discussions with the state to firm up dates for the special filing period.