Clark County voter turnout for the 2024 general election, now just days away, will likely be similar to turnout for previous presidential elections.
“We’re planning on 85 percent turnout,” Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said Wednesday. “That would be at the upper end with past presidential elections.”
Along with the presidential election, voters will be weighing in on U.S. Senate and House of Representative races, including the 3rd District rematch between incumbent Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent; statewide offices of governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, secretary of state, lawmakers and others; plus four statewide initiatives.
Plenty of local races are on the ballot as well: two county council seats, three county charter amendments and five city of Vancouver charter amendments, as well as a levy lid lift to pay for additional Vancouver police officers.
Presidential election years generally draw more voters than midterm or off-year elections. For example, voter turnout for the past four presidential elections averaged 81.82 percent, while turnout for the past four midterm elections averaged 66.93 percent.
Without an incumbent candidate running for president, Kimsey said, this year’s election is generating more interest from voters. With more than 346,000 registered voters in the county, an 85 percent turnout will give elections staff about 295,000 ballots to sort, open and process. Kimsey said the county has been preparing for the onslaught of ballots, most of which will be turned in on Election Day.
“We’ve got as many seasonal election workers as we’ve ever had, that’s for sure,” Kimsey said. “We’ve got about 150 seasonal workers.”
The county also hired elections observers to monitor its 22 ballot drop box sites around the clock following the Oct. 28 early-morning arson attacks on the drop box at C-Tran’s Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver and another drop box in Portland.
Not surprisingly, the attacks, which damaged hundreds of ballots, have generated interest from voters.
“We’ve had a lot of calls and also a lot of people coming into the office to get replacement ballots,” Kimsey said.
Many voters have already turned in their ballots. As of Friday morning, the elections office had received nearly 148,000 ballots, or 42.70 percent of all ballots. But that’s far fewer than the number of ballots received early in the 2020 election, which saw 61.38 percent of ballots returned in the same period.
21,000 new voters
Since the 2020 election, Clark County has added about 21,000 new voters to its rolls. Increased efforts to get younger voters involved in elections could be paying off.
The League of Women Voters Clark County recently partnered with Washington State University Vancouver’s student association to register eligible students to vote. The “Pet a Goat —Register to Vote” event held Monday on the campus attracted dozens of curious students.
“It was something that we saw another campus do many years ago,” said Jacob Winstead, president of the student association. “We’re trying to take away all the stress and anxiety that comes from voting by doing something a little bit silly, a little bit funny.”
Winstead said students are certainly more interested in this year’s election than in prior years. In turn, he said, that also has made student government’s efforts more important.
“As student government, I think, it’s important we try to enforce that line of nonpartisanship,” Winstead said. “No matter what political climate we’re in, we want to make sure that people can have their own opinions, that we’re not trying to influence them and just provide them with the information and resources they need.”
League of Women Voters Clark County President Nancy Halvorson said voters, especially younger ones, have expressed concerns about both the quantity and negative tone of campaign mailers.
“The League of Women Voters of Clark County has heard from a number of voters, including college students,” Halvorson said. “They are engaged and anxious about next week’s election.”
Halvorson said that during registration events at Clark College and WSU Vancouver, including Monday’s event, League members asked students why they are voting.
“Their top concern is health care and women’s rights, followed by the economy, civil rights, foreign policy and immigration, education and environment/climate change,” she said.
Halvorson said voters of all ages have concerns about the recent ballot drop box fires and the length of this year’s ballot and that many have asked for help to better understand the three charter initiatives.
But one race has attracted the most attention.
“The race they talk most about is the 3rd Congressional District contest,” Halvorson said.
Voting options
Voters have several options for returning their ballots. They can be mailed but must be postmarked by Nov. 5, dropped in one of the county’s 23 red drop boxes or returned in person. The elections office, at 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver, will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ballots left in drop boxes before 5:30 p.m. will be collected and brought to the elections office the same day.
For more information and drop box locations, go to clark.wa.gov/elections.