Voter pamphlet mistake may confuse Cowlitz voters

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An error in Cowlitz County’s voter pamphlet may pose a hiccup in a candidate’s attempt to establish familiarity with the region’s voters.

The county elections office distributed a misprint of congressional candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s name, originally written as “Marie Gluesenkamp Kamp.” An updated version can be viewed on Cowlitz County Elections’ webpage, and households will receive a new pamphlet with the corrections by July 18.

Ballots are correct; the voters’ pamphlet was the only document with the discrepancy. Voters will also receive an insert in their ballot packet notifying them of the error.

Perez was notified of the mistake from her supporters nearly two-weeks ago and has been playing “catch up” since, she said. Overall, it’s not going to be especially damaging, Perez added, but the campaign was required to expend more resources and energy to tend to the matter. She told The Columbian she’s concerned it will confuse voters who may not receive the updated pamphlet by the time they cast their ballot.

The county soon became one of Perez’s strongest ground games, as a network of her supporters have been canvassing and phone banking in the area since.

There are 70,769 registered voters in Cowlitz County as of July 1, according to the Washington Secretary of State.

Cowlitz County has a history of dipping toward politically red territory. Voters favored the incumbent over her Democratic challenger, Carolyn Long, in both the primary and general elections in 2020.