Candidates chosen

Sanders County voters cast their ballots in the 2022 primary election this week, with the County elections staff counting 4,837 ballots Tuesday evening.

The top two candidates in races will move on to the November general election.

In the race for Sanders County Sheriff, Roy Scott and Schawn Fielders will advance to the general election, garnering 1,217 and 1,046 votes, respectively. Other candidates who will not advance from the primary included Corey Wheeldon with 1,014 votes, Lanny Hensley with 658 votes, Christopher Stough with 523 votes and Mark French with 207 votes.

This November, voters will choose count my commissioners in Districts 1 and 2. In District 1, Adam Bache and Dan Rowan won in Tuesday’s primary, while John Holland and Mahlon Lee will move on in District 2. In District 1, Rowan received 1,943 votes, Bache 1,687, and candidate Daniel Moore 811. In District 2, Holland received 2,248 votes, Lee 1,137, and other candidates included Randy Arnold with 593 votes and Don Deteinne with 305 votes.

Several county races had just two candidates, meaning both will advance to the November general election. That included the position of Sanders County Clerk and Recorder / Treasurer / Superintendent of Schools. Nichol Scribner received 3,318 votes in the primary, and Kathleen French 1,113 votes.

In the race for Sanders County Coroner, Pat Barber received 2,596 votes and Martin Spring 1,465. Justice of the Peace candidate Doug Dryden received 3,382 votes and Carl Marquardt had 993 votes. All of those candidates will face off in November's general election.

Sanders County Attorney is running unopposed and received 3,465 votes in the primary election.

Nearly 4,000 ballots were counted by 9 p.m., including absentee ballots and those dropped off at the courthouse on Election Day. There are 9,795 registered voters in the county, with just under half voting in Tuesday's primary. Primary turnout is historically low, according to county Election Administrator Nichol Scribner. The elections staff sent out 6,245 absentee ballots in May.

Ballots were brought from polling places throughout the county by Sanders County Sheriff’s deputies.

Scribner said there was low voter turnout at the polls on Tuesday. For example, in Thompson Falls precinct five, just 85 ballots were cast on Election Day, with 88 ballots coming in Tuesday in Thompson Falls precinct four. Ballots from Heron were the last to reach the courthouse late Tuesday evening, with 40 voters casting ballots in that precinct on Election Day.

The counting of the ballots was completed by 11 p.m. Tuesday. Votes have been tabulated by machine for three decades. Elections official Brenda Franck said her first year with the county 30 years ago was the first year the county used a machine to count ballots.

Scribner said the elections staff rejected 40 ballots in early ballot prep because voters marked or included both the republican and democratic ballots in the secrecy envelope.

Counts from Tuesday’s primary are considered unofficial until certified by the county elections staff.