An election for one seat on the Whatcom Conservation District board will be held on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
Ballots must be postmarked on or before March 13, 2018, to be counted.
Registered voters have the option of voting at 6975 Hannegan Road, Lynden on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. Polls will be open between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The Whatcom Conservation District is also seeking candidates for a board position appointed by the Washington State Conservation Commission. For more information, or to obtain an application form, please call 360-526-2381 or visit the website at www.scc.wa.gov. Applications and supporting materials must be received by the commission no later than Saturday, March 31, 2018.
Board members are public officials who serve without compensation and who set policy and direction for the Whatcom Conservation District. Candidates for this seat must be registered voters residing in Whatcom County. A term of office is three years. Board members are expected to attend 12 regularly scheduled meetings per year, committee meetings, and other special meetings, for an average of 20 days per year.
For many years the Whatcom Conservation District counted the ballots. Starting in 2016, the Whatcom County auditor’s office was paid to count them. The auditor’s office provided a locked box for the deposit of ballots. The day after the election the election officer and a polling officer took the sealed ballots boxes to the Courthouse, per the Whatcom County auditor’s office direction to maintain security of ballots and the ballots were counted at the Courthouse.
Last year, 4,725 ballots were mailed, 3,415 were returned by mail and 1,382 voted in the Lynden office. The three major reasons for disqualifiying ballots; there were 43 with a postmark after the election date, 11 return envelopes were not signed and 10 were not registered voters.
In 2017, Heather Christianson received 2,874 votes or 60.10 percent, Suzzi (Suzanne) Synder received 1,561 votes or 32,64 percent, Roderic Perry 344 votes or 7.19 percent and there were 3 write-in votes.
