Believe it or not, two weeks from today Clark County residents will be able to vote in the 2015 general election — provided that they are registered voters. Sure, Election Day is not until Nov. 3, and the votes will not be tallied until that evening, but ballots are scheduled to be made available on Oct. 16.
So, with the election quickly approaching, Secretary of State Kim Wyman is stepping up efforts to help people get registered. Her office recently mailed out 218,000 postcards to potential voters who appear eligible to register but have not. “We want every eligible person, including our new 18-year-olds, to get registered and then to vote,” Wyman said. “We truly believe that ‘Your vote is your voice.’ ”
Getting citizens to believe that is becoming more difficult than ever. For the August primary, voter turnout in Clark County was about 26 percent — and that is out of only those who are registered. While turnout for a general election typically is stronger than that of a primary, years without a presidential election — such as this one — also struggle to draw people to the ballot box.
Admittedly, the logic behind such a phenomenon is difficult to fathom. While presidential elections benefit from constant media attention and a choice between well-known options, local elections often have more of an impact upon the daily lives of voters. As Wyman told The Columbian’s Editorial Board during a recent meeting: “The thing that’s frustrating is that voters turn out in droves for the presidential election, for a whole host of reasons. The president of the United States doesn’t really affect your daily life that much. But the people who do — the port commissioners and the city council members and the school board directors — are literally making decisions that affect your daily life, from the quality of your roads, to the books your kids read in school, to how fast a first responder gets to you. Those decisions are made in these elections and, ironically, these have the lowest turnout.”
