Voter turnout on track to be 60%

About one-third of Clark County voters who received general election ballots in the mail had returned their completed ballots as of Friday, and elections manager Tim Likness said the county is on track to meet its predicted 60 percent turnout by Election Day Tuesday.

Of 218,327 ballots mailed earlier this month, 74,146 had been received back as of Friday afternoon.

The elections office, at 1408 Franklin St., will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, during regular 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours Monday, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to accept ballots and to provide ballots to registered voters who did not receive their ballots in the mail.

Completed ballots may be deposited in the red drop-off box on West 14th Street between Esther and Franklin streets 24 hours a day until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ballots may also be deposited at 35 drop boxes throughout the county until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Locations of the drop boxes are available at http://www.clarkvotes.com.

Mailed ballots must be postmarked no later than Tuesday, but Likness advised voters to put their ballots in mailboxes Monday to be sure they don’t miss mail pickup times.

“The biggest issue we tend to have is that we have so many that get postmarked the day after” the election, Likness said. In the August primary election, he said, about 600 ballots arrived at the elections office too late be counted.

Most ballots arrived in Clark County mailboxes by Oct. 19. Likness said his office has received no more calls this year than in other midterm elections from people who failed to receive their ballots.

“We always get a bigger turnout for this election, and we end up with people who don’t vote in every election,” he said. “We’ll get more calls because more people are interested in voting. If anyone hasn’t gotten their ballot, they should be sure to contact us.”

The elections department phone number is 360-397-2345.