The Washington State Secretary of State’s office issued a notice on Jan. 31 that ballots for the Feb. 19 Presidential Primary will be mailed on Feb. 1. All San Juan County voting for the Feb. 19 election is by mail-in ballot.

Voters may participate in both the political party caucuses held Feb. 9 and the Presidential Primary which takes place on Feb. 19 to nominate the next President of the United States.

For the Democratic Party, the primary will be a “popularity poll” as the results of the primary will have no bearing on the selection of delegates in the national nominating process; those delegates will be selected at the caucus meeting on Feb. 9. Call Rena Patty at 376 or Jamie Stephens at 468-4408 for more information.

For the Republican Party, nearly half the nominating delegates for the party’s Presidential candidate will be selected at the Feb. 9 caucus. The other delegates will be selected from the primary results.

Call Cindy Carter at 376-2187 for more information.

Citizens must vote on behalf of the same political party in both the caucuses and the primary. They must sign an oath on their primary ballots declaring that they have not participated in the other political party’s caucus process.

In the 2008 Primary, 16 of 39 counties will hold special elections at the same time. Voters who wish to skip the nomination of a presidential candidate may still vote the other races and measures. These voters may skip the oath requirement but must still sign their names on the envelope as required by law.

Sample ballots and envelopes are available on many county election department websites.

Learn more at www.secstate.wa.gov and/or www.vote.wa.gov