Presidential Primary brings narrow results

Bernie Sanders leads as the Democratic Presidential Primary for Washington and had the highest amount of votes in Whitman County as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 with a 20.37 percent voter turnout.

The only three candidates up for a vote in this election were Joseph Biden, Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard.

The sole Republican Party candidate, running for a second term is Donald Trump. Trump won the Republican vote in Washington and had 2,371 votes in Whitman County.

In 2016, the nominees from Washington were Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump.

There were 39 write-in votes for the Republican candidate in Whitman County as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 10.

When the Presidential Primary ballots went out there were 13 candidates up for election for the Democratic Party and as of election there were three candidates eligible for election.

If a ballot was submitted and voted for a candidate prior to their dropping out, votes are not allowed to be changed, but the votes for those who have dropped out have been processed and reported.

In Whitman County 2,609 votes came in for a Democratic candidate. 1,023 of those votes were for Bernie Sanders, 455 for Joseph Biden and Elizabeth Warren with 448.

There are approximately 24,661 registered voters in Whitman County.

Debbie McNeil, Whitman County Democrats chair said that she is pleased with the turnout for this primary election.

"We haven't had a primary election in a long time," McNeil said. "It doesn't surprise me in Whitman County that Bernie Sanders leads, he made quite good ground in eastern Washington."

McNeil mentioned that she hopes no matter who is selected for the Democratic bid, she hopes everyone gets behind them, no matter who they voted for prior.

"We will just continue to register people to vote and watch the debates and go from there," McNeil said.

Sandy Jamison, Whitman County auditor mentioned that there had been a lot of students coming in to register today, March 10, and voting.

The Washington Secretary of State will certify all results no later then Friday, March 27, providing s final allocation of the vote by Legislative District, Congressional District and statewide levels.

This Presidential Primary is the first time Washington voters will be participating in a state-run Presidential Primary to allocate National Convention delegates to Presidential candidates. Both major political parties are allocating their delegates this way.

Last year, Governor Jay Inslee signed a measure moving the state's presidential primary from May to the second Tuesday in March.

Washington has the second most pledged delegates, 89, out of the six states voting March 10. Michigan has 125. For the Democratic National Convention, it takes 1,991 delegates to win on the first ballot, which is scheduled for this summer in Milwaukee.

Late arriving ballots, those mailed or deposited in drop boxes on election day, will be counted over the next few days.