Thurston County repeals 7 election precincts, creates new

Population changes require new precinct borders

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The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) voted 2-1 to approve an ordinance updating the boundaries of 13 election precincts due to the annexations Tumwater and Lacey did of unincorporated areas in 2022.

The adjustments to the boundaries resulted in creating one new precinct, Evergreen Ballroom North, and adjustments to seven others.

Lead Elections Technician Lynne Watanabe explained to the BoCC at a February 28 meeting that updates to the boundaries were necessary as some of the precincts were approaching the cap of 1,500 voters. She said that 783 voters would be affected by the adjustments but stated that there would be no changes to the boundaries of the five county districts approved by voters during the 2022 general elections.

The Evergreen Ballroom would be divided into two precincts due to a new 256-unit apartment complex in the area. It would be divided along Pacific Avenue, with the new Evergreen Ballroom North precinct gaining 383 voters.

As for the precincts to be repealed, five of these were previously unincorporated areas that Tumwater annexed in February 2022, which include Bush Prairie, Simmons 3, Simmons 4, Glenwood, and Quince, which represented annexed properties on the Trosper Lake island and smaller county islands.

The Glenwood precinct, which represented the Trosper Lake island, would be shared by Tumwater 10 and 11, with the power lines on the area indicating how the precinct would be divided.

The Simmons 3 precinct, which comprised the county islands along Rural and Sapp Road, would be divided by Tumwater 3, 10, and 15.

The Simmons 4 precinct, comprised of the properties along Linwood Avenue, Liberty Street, and Pioneer Street, would be divided so that the area north of Linwood Avenue is part of Tumwater 3, and the southern side is part of Tumwater 10.

The Quince precinct, named after the street it was located on, would be merged with Tumwater 12.

Edwards votes nay

Board Commissioner Gary Edwards voted against the ordinance as it meant the removal of the Bush Prarie precinct, which he said had historical roots.

“You're retiring Bush Prairie, one of the older areas in our community with real historic significance,” he said, adding later on, “We're in the middle of Black History Month. We're gonna knock off Mr. Bush, one of our founding fathers… I think it's terrible that we're doing that.”

The precinct represents an area on Dennis Street, which Tumwater has also annexed. The Bush Prarie precinct would now be part of Tumwater 9, whose boundaries would also be shifted so that the area east of Henderson Boulevard would be transferred to Tumwater 31.

Other boundary updates

Two of the seven repealed precincts would be consolidated into bigger adjacent precincts. Lacey 52 would be part of Lacey 42, while Tumwater 29 would be included in Tumwater 11.

Other updates in the boundary include the Kinwood West precinct, which represented the Lake Lois area annexed by Lacey in June 2022. While a northern portion of Kinwood West would remain, the area along Pacific Avenue would be divided by Lacey 15 and 33.

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