School levies passing

Voters were favoring school maintenance and operations levies in eight local districts according to results released Tuesday night.

With nearly 80,000 ballots tallied — 38.3 percent of eligible voters — the percentages favoring approval were as follows:

Battle Ground 51.94 percent; Camas 58.92 percent; Evergreen, 62.13 percent; La Center, 52.57 percent; Ridgefield, 67.61 percent; Vancouver, 68.08 percent; Washougal, 58.38 percent; Washougal technology levy, 60.97 percent.

In Woodland, which includes voters in Cowlitz and Clark counties, the levy proposal was favored by 58.55 percent.

The only measure that was failing was a three-year, $250,000-per-year technology levy in La Center. It had an approval rate of 45.68 percent.

Under a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2007, school levies now need only a simple majority of votes to pass. The margin had been 60 percent.

Thousands more votes, including those submitted on Tuesday, will be tabulated on Wednesday.

Clark County vote totals are available here, and Cowlitz County’s are here.

For more, read Wednesday’s Columbian.