In Our View: Primary Priority

Ample and widely varied voting methods await those who will participate in Tuesday’s primary. Can’t stand mail voting? No problem. There’s a 24/7 ballot drop box waiting for you near West 14th and Esther streets, just east of the county elections office. Can’t stand the thought of driving downtown? No problem. About three dozen ballot drop-off sites will be open around Clark County on Tuesday (for locations, visit http://www.clarkvotes.com.)

Other excuses also are cast aside when the facts are presented: You say you abhor picking a party and having to vote only in that party’s nominating process? Relax, that was the old system, back in the relative Dark Ages of democracy. Now our state uses the top two primary. Not only do you get to vote for anyone you choose regardless of their party affiliation, and cross party lines from one race to another, but the top two vote-getters advance in each race also regardless of party affiliation. You can’t get much more democratic than that.

Here are a few other reminders about Tuesday’s primary:

Several key races do not fall into the definition of a primary and will be finalized Tuesday. These include three judicial races (one with three candidates could be pushed to Nov. 2 if no candidate receives a majority of votes.) But more importantly for firefighters, emergency response personnel and library supporters are three ballot measures that will be decided Tuesday. A tax levy increase requested by the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District will require majority approval. Ballot measures for Fire District No. 6 and Washougal EMS service each will require supermajority (60 percent) approval.

On various ballots across Clark County there are seven races where no candidates will be eliminated. Each of these races has two candidates who will automatically advance to the general election. These races are: incumbent Democrat Tim Probst vs. Republican Brian Peck for 17th Legislative District state representative Pos. 1; incumbent Democrat Jim Jacks vs. Republican Bill Cismar for 49th Legislative state representative Pos. 1; incumbent Democrat Jim Moeller vs. Republican Craig Riley for 49th state rep Pos. 2; incumbent Democrat Steve Stuart vs. Republican Alan Svehaug for Clark County commissioner; incumbent Democrat Sherry Parker vs. Republican Scott Weber for Clark County clerk; incumbent Republican Garry Lucas vs. Democrat Timothy Shotwell for Clark County sheriff; and incumbent Democrat Doug Lasher vs. Republican Mike Appel for county treasurer.

However, this does not mean nothing is to be gained by these auto-advance candidates in the primary. In each race, the percentage of votes received could affect fundraising and could help favorites muster meaningful momentum for the Nov. 2 general election.

Then again, be careful not to assign too much power to those percentages in the two-candidate races. About 35 percent to 38 percent of voters are expected to participate in Tuesday’s primary; many of them are hard-core, traditionally partisan voters. But in the general election, more undecided and independent voters usually come forth, and voter turnouts often climb above 60 percent. So a candidate’s strong showing in the summer might fizzle in the fall.

In all, the different ballots across the county include races for the U.S. Senate, 3rd Congressional District, three legislative districts, six county offices, three judicial races, one Vancouver City Council position, a Clark Public Utilities commissioner, precinct committee officers and the three ballot measures related to taxes.

To read Columbian endorsement editorials, visit http://www.columbian.com/news/opinion.

For other information about the local primary, visit http://www.clarkvotes.com.