With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, a shade more than 7 percent of Clark County’s 246,000 registered voters have already marked and returned their ballots to the elections office.
As of Friday, elections workers reported they had received 18,180 ballots, or about 7.4 percent of the total mailed. The general election period ends Tuesday, Nov. 5, and ballots must be turned in or postmarked on or before that date in order to be counted.
Voters can still register for the election by visiting the county elections office at 1408 Franklin St., before 5 p.m. Monday.
Clark County voters are facing one of the largest and most complicated ballots in county history. More than two dozen local races are contested, led by the Vancouver mayoral race and three council positions. They’ll also weigh in on six advisory votes placed on the ballot by county commissioners, five of which involve bridges and transit, and one of which is about fireworks use and sale.
Voters will also choose 15 freeholders, a group of unpaid citizens who will meet to form a draft county charter. The charter, similar to a constitution, would be submitted to voters for approval. If approved, it could make radical changes in county government, including increasing the number of commissioners, creating an elected executive and giving citizens expanded powers of referendum and petition. Six of 39 Washington counties have charters.
Freeholder candidates will be elected by commissioner district, which means every voter will be able to select among candidates for five positions, not all 15. There was no primary, so some seats have more than a dozen hopefuls.
There are no statewide races, but voters will decide two initiatives, including one that would require labeling of genetically engineered foods. The other would make it easier for initiative sponsors to gather signatures and get their proposals on the ballot.
To help voters decipher the large ballot, The Columbian has collected its coverage of contested races at http://www.columbian.com/election. More information about freeholders, including an interactive database with political views furnished by the candidates, is found at http://www.columbian.com/freeholders.
The elections office has already mailed voters pamphlets, but an online version, along with more information about the election, is at http://clarkvotes.org.
