With ballots due Tuesday, local candidates squeeze in last-minute campaigning

The Columbian plans more than 18 hours of coverage of today’s election on its website.

Look for national coverage beginning at approximately 6:45 a.m., to be followed shortly thereafter by local coverage. The website will be updated throughout the day with new stories and photos from our community. We will also host a live chat beginning at 7 p.m. at Columbian Live Chats. Submit your comments to event+8f91764185@mailcomments.coveritlive.com. Learn more about the candidates and issues in our Voters Guide.

We will post Clark County returns as soon as they are available, beginning at approximately 8:30 p.m., and will update national and state races throughout the night. Expanded coverage will also be in Wednesday’s print edition.

BATTLE GROUND

Battle Ground City Hall, 109 S.W. First St., Battle Ground.

Battle Ground High School, 300 W. Main St., Battle Ground.

Glenwood Heights Primary School, 9716 N.E. 134th St., Vancouver.

Pleasant Valley School, 14320 N.E. 50th Ave., Vancouver.

BRUSH PRAIRIE

Hockinson Middle School, 15916 N.E. 182nd Ave., Brush Prairie.

CAMAS

Dorothy Fox Elementary School, 2623 N.W. Sierra St., Camas.

Grace Foursquare Gospel Church, 717 S.E. Everett Road, Camas.

Helen Baller Elementary School, 1954 N.E. Garfield St., Camas.

Prune Hill Elementary School, 1601 N.W. Tidland St., Camas.

LA CENTER

La Center Community Center, 1000 E. Fourth St., La Center.

RIDGEFIELD

Ridgefield Nazarene Church, 747 Pioneer St., Ridgefield.

EAST VANCOUVER

Burton Elementary School, 14015 N.E. 28th St., Vancouver.

Crestline Elementary School, 13003 S.E. Seventh St., Vancouver.

Ellsworth Elementary School, 512 S.E. Ellsworth Ave., Vancouver.

Fisher’s Landing Elementary School, 3800 S.E. Hiddenbrook Drive, Vancouver.

Image Elementary School, 4400 N.E. 122nd Ave., Vancouver.

Mill Plain Elementary School, 400 S.E. 164th Ave., Vancouver.

Riverview Elementary School, 12601 S.E. Riverridge Drive, Vancouver.

Sifton Elementary School, 7301 N.E. 137th Ave., Vancouver.

Sunset Elementary School, 9001 N.E. 95th St., Vancouver.

NORTH VANCOUVER

Chinook Elementary School, 1900 N.W. Bliss Road, Vancouver.

Felida Elementary School, 2700 N.W. 119th St., Vancouver.

Hazel Dell Elementary School, 511 N.E. Anderson Road, Vancouver.

Salmon Creek Elementary School, 1601 N.E. 129th St., Vancouver.

Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School, 2215 N.E. 104th St., Vancouver.

WEST VANCOUVER

County Elections Department, 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver.

Permanent Ballot Drop Box, West 14th & Esther streets, Vancouver.

Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School, 2921 Falk Road, Vancouver.

Lincoln Elementary School, 4200 Daniels St., Vancouver.

Martin Luther King Elementary School, 4801 Idaho St., Vancouver.

Minnehaha Elementary School, 2800 N.E. 54th St., Vancouver.

Walnut Grove Elementary School, 6103 N.E. 72nd Ave., Vancouver.

WASHOUGAL

Washougal Community Center, 1681 C St., Washougal.

YACOLT

Yacolt Primary School, 406 W. Yacolt Road, Yacolt.

Months of campaigning will culminate in either victory or defeat for candidates today, the last day to vote in the 2012 general election.

In close races, however, it may take several days to determine a winner, as officials will continue to count ballots in the vote-by-mail election in the days ahead.

Ballots must be postmarked today or returned before 8 p.m. to one of the 34 drop-off locations throughout Clark County. Ballots dropped at any deposit location after 8 p.m. will not be valid.

As last-minute voters worked to complete their civic duty, candidates were busy making their final campaign push Monday.

Republican legislative candidate Carolyn Crain was knocking on about her hundredth door of the day when she paused to speak to a reporter. Her plan: locate all the Republicans in the 49th District who haven’t voted yet and stop by their homes. She’s spent the past few days going door-to-door, hitting about 185 houses a day, she said.

Her opponent, state Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, was waving signs on the Interstate 5 overpass on Evergreen Boulevard in Vancouver.

Other candidates were busy calling from phone banks, door-belling, sending email and Facebook messages, and even attending that last political rally.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell made another campaign stop at the Clark County Democratic call center Monday to thank volunteers and say how much she wants to win in Clark County. Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, crossed the Columbia River to attend the rally and throw his support behind Cantwell.

“Does Maria Cantwell rock?” Wyden shouted as he entered the room, which was filled with about 75 supporters. Political signs were plastered on the walls along with inspirational messages. Supporters answered with applause.

“The elections department is doing nothing to pick up ballots,” he said. “Turn in your own ballot.”

State and county elections officials have forecast about an 81 percent voter turnout. That’s higher than usual, but not as high as 2008’s record voter turnout of nearly 85 percent.

On Monday, more than half (52 percent) of Clark County’s registered voters had returned their ballots. On the Monday before Election Day in 2008, more than 58 percent of registered voters had returned ballots.

To make sure your vote counts, Likness advised against sending a ballot in by mail today. There’s a chance you might miss your mail service, so your ballot would be postmarked a day late, he said. Instead, bring your ballot to a deposit location.

Likness also pointed out that there are many places to return your ballot on Election Day. In past elections, he’s seen people show up five minutes after the 8 p.m. deadline at the elections department’s Vancouver office, only to find that they could have made the voting deadline by driving to a location closer to home.

The county’s ballot drop-off locations are throughout the county, Likness said.

If you need a replacement ballot, you can go to the Clark County Elections Department, 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver. If you want to avoid a line and have a computer with a printer, you can print your replacement ballot by going to http://www.clarkvotes.org, clicking the “My Vote” link, entering your name and birthday, and clicking the “my ballot” link.

Stevie Mathieu: 360-735-4523; http://facebook.com/reportermathieu; http://twitter.com/col_politics; stevie.mathieu@columbian.com.