COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County mailed out the first absentee ballots for the May 20 primary election Friday, and the deadline to withdraw from any race has passed.

"We mailed over 600 ballots. Voters should be aware that ballots will have blacked-out options because of candidate withdrawals," said Chief Deputy Clerk Pat Raffee.

The county elections website was updated after the withdraw deadline passed Friday afternoon, showing five candidates have withdrawn from various races.

Two county commission candidates, incumbent Republican Commissioner Jai Nelson and Republican challenger Terry Wall, have decided to withdraw from the District 2 commission race.

That leaves Republican David Stewart as the sole candidate for that commission seat unless a write-in candidate files to run against him before April 22.

In fact, no write-in candidates have filed for any of the county or state positions in this election cycle.

Three others withdrew from the Republican precinct committee races. John Minden withdrew from the precinct 42 race, leaving Allen Richardson unopposed.

Peggy Miller withdrew from the precinct 43 race, leaving Laura Rumpler and Donald Knapp to campaign for that Republican Party seat.

Former Coeur d'Alene City Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander also withdrew from the precinct 55 race, leaving Marge Chadderdon and Jeff Ames to compete for that position.

Write-in candidates for the precinct committee seats have been steady over the past week, said Carrie Phillips, elections manager for the county.

So far, 16 people have filed as write-in candidates, but only one of those was on the Republican ballot. The 15 other write-ins are for committee positions on the Democratic Party's Central Committee.

There are now two contested precinct races on the Democrat ballot, compared to 43 contested races on the Republican ballot.

Most of the write-in activity on the Democratic ballot is in response to an attempted takeover of that party's central committee. During the candidate filing period last month, several former Republicans filed for precinct seats in an effort to gain control of the committee.

Write-in candidates can still file for any of those races until April 22.

Voters can request an absentee ballot on the county's website at www.kcgov.us/elections. The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is May 14.

Absentee ballot requests from voters must contain which type of ballot - Democrat, Republican or non-partisan - on which they prefer to vote. Voters who have questions about this can call the Elections staff at 446-1030.

Early voting in person will be available from April 28 through May 16 at the county Elections office, 1808 N. Third St., Coeur d'Alene. Elections office hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.