For about 20 percent of Washington voters, today marks the beginning of the chance to cast ballots in a special election. Ballot boxes opened this morning for the April special election, the second of four election cycles for Washington voters in 2018. There's plenty of time to participate: Election day is April 24, and the deadline for in-person voter registration with county election officials is April 16. So what's on the ballot? For voters in 15 of Washington's 39 counties and large sections of some other counties, nothing at all. A county-by-county listing of issues to be decided is available on the Voter Pamphlet page of the Secretary of State's Elections website. Among the 34 ballot measures being decided in areas across the state:

• Shelton, in Mason County, will be electing four council members for its new council-manager government.
• Orcas Island and others in San Juan County will vote on whether to establish and elect commissioners for a new hospital district.
• The Peninsula School District in Pierce County will decide on a proposed $220 million school bond issue for new construction, repairs, renovations and other upgrades.
• Kittitas County will vote whether to establish a new port district, which would be named Port of Kittitas County.