WALLOWA COUNTY — Election Day is less than a week away and voters who haven’t yet mailed their ballots might consider delivering their completed ballots to one of the drop-off boxes in Wallowa County.

The boxes are:

• Outside the Wallowa County Courthouse, 101 S. River St., Enterprise. Another fourth box is inside the courthouse, but it’s accessible only during business hours.

• Outside Joseph City Hall, 201 N. Main St., Joseph.

• Outside Wallowa City Hall, 104 N. Pine St., Wallowa.

County Clerk Sandy Lathrop said it can take a while for mailed ballots to reach the clerk’s office. But that’s not a worry if ballots are dropped off directly in one of the official ballot boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 21.

Ballots postmarked by Election Day will count, if they arrive at the county clerk’s office no later than seven days after the election. Voters who want to mail their ballots on Election Day must have them postmarked inside a post office.

Since mailed-in ballots can still arrive for seven days after Election Day and be counted, that means that some tight races might not be decided on election night — and might hang in the balance for days.

Plenty of county ballots are outstanding, Lathrop said. As of Monday, May 13, county turnout in the election was 18.15%. While that’s considerably better than the statewide turnout thus far (which was 7% as of Monday), it’s below the norm for Wallowa County, where turnout in a presidential primary year can be in the 80% range.

“We usually have one of the highest (percentage) turnouts in the state,” she said.

The county primary election could be the final word in some of the contested races, but not all.

For example, with five candidates in the race for Position 1 on the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners, it’s unlikely that none of the nonpartisan candidates will garner the 50% plus one required for a primary victory. Rather, it seems likely that the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election in November.

The two-person race for Position 2 in the nonpartisan county commission race, however, could be settled in the primary election if either incumbent Susan Roberts or challenger David Hembd get 50% plus one.

And the same is true for a contested race for a judge’s position in the 10th Judicial District, which includes Wallowa and Union counties. Incumbent Judge Wes Williams is facing challenger Jared Boyd, a La Grande attorney. Again, if one of the nonpartisan candidates collects 50% plus one in the two counties, that candidate is elected in the primary.

Republican voters in the primary election will choose their nominee for Senate District 29, the legislative seat that has been held by the retiring Bill Hansell. With no opponent yet lined up for the November election, the winner of the four-candidate GOP primary is almost certainly assured victory.

Wallowa County Sheriff Ryan Moody, with no challenger, only has to be confirmed in the November election and isn’t even on the May 21 ballot. He was appointed to fill out the unexpired term of his predecessor, Joel Fish, and had announced his plan to run in the election.

Another likely victor is on the May 21 ballot: Ashley Immoos, who is unopposed for county assessor.