Line out the door at local elections office

The line outside the Clark County Elections Office stretched around the block on Tuesday afternoon.

“If people are here in line at 8 p.m., we’ll take care of them,” said Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey. 

Kimsey said the line at about 4:30 p.m. was the longest it had been all day.

“I can’t even see the end right now. It’s the first time it’s done that,” he said, estimating at least 130 people were waiting.

To avoid the lines, it’s possible to fill out a replacement ballot online at www.clarkvotes.org and drop it off at one of the county’s drop boxes. Ballots must be dropped at a ballot box by 8 p.m. to be valid.

The county’s election office believes the county is on track to reach the projected 82 percent voter turnout.

“I always feel hopeful our voters will exercise their right to vote and they still have time,” said Clark County Elections Supervisor Cathie Garber.

Since the August primary, 11,750 new people have registered to vote in the county. Last month, the county issued 272,553 general election ballots.

Garber said on Tuesday morning that 15,238 ballots had been received in the mail and collected from drop boxes overnight, bringing voter turnout to 58.37 percent.

To help with the long lines at the elections office,  Kimsey swore in about a half dozen high schoolers to be temporary election workers for the day.

It’s the first time they’ve sought out help from the young adults, many of whom cannot vote themselves.

“It’s always a challenge to find temporary election workers,” Kimsey said. A staff member had a student in the National Honor Society at Skyview High School and had the idea to reach out to the group for help.

Kimsey said the solution was a win-win since lines to return and fill out ballots are kept short while also providing an educational experience.

“I bet they’ll all be perfect voters,” he said.

Matthias Abebe, 17, was among the group sworn in this morning. He said he also helped out during the primaries, double checking each ballot that came in to make sure it was marked correctly.

“I thought it’d be fun to do since I’m interested in how the elections work,” he said. “Working here, it’s impressive to see how thorough they are.”

This year, he said he’s kept a close eye on the state and national elections and said he’s even signed up to take AP government and politics because of the political conversations he’s had.

“It’s not like any other election I’ve been alive for,” he said.

State officials expect more than 80 percent of Washington voters to return their ballots for Tuesday’s election.

Despite national cries of a “rigged election,” Garber assured voters there are several layers of security to ensure every vote is counted.

“All we care about here is counting your ballot properly and making sure your vote counts,” Garber said.

Statewide, more than 2 million ballots have been returned to county elections offices as of Monday evening, or about 48 percent of the 4.27 million ballots that were issued. Normally, 50 percent of ballots are returned during election week.

In 2012, statewide voter turnout was 81.3 percent. In 2008, it was 84.6 percent statewide. In Clark County, the voter turnout was also solid. In 2008, 85.3 percent of voters cast a ballot. In 2012, 79.6 percent voted.

Voters are clearly motivated by the heated presidential race, but there are also several local and statewide races garnering interest.

In Vancouver, Battle Ground and Woodland voters will decide whether to raise taxes to fund affordable housing, new schools and transportation projects.

In Clark County, voters will choose among candidates in five legislative districts, and could determine who holds the majority in the state Senate. Voters in east Vancouver and north Clark County will pick new county council members.

Washington voters will cast their ballots for governor, and U.S. senator and representative. Washingtonians will also decide on whether to raise the state’s minimum wage to $13.50 over a three-year period.