Election day coverage

Election day has finally arrived!

Be sure to get out to your local polling station and make your voices heard. Polls are open until 8 p.m. tonight. There are 10 polling stations throughout Claremont, one for each precinct.

Check out lavote.net and type in your address to find the station near you. Or call city hall at 399-5460.

So far, it appears voter interest in this council race is pretty low. Assistant City Clerk Shelley Desautels said the city has counted only 2,115 absentee ballots, a significant drop-off from 2,482 in 2007.

Voter turnout for city council elections has declined each year since 2003, when 34 percent of registered voters went to the polls. That year, Peter Yao, Jackie McHenry and Sandy Baldonado were voted into office.

In 2005, 33 percent came out. In 2007, it dropped to 31 percent.

It's unclear why voters seem less interested this time around. Maybe because there are only 3 candidates running for 2 open seats. Maybe because they are all well qualified to serve. Or maybe because there are no hot button issues in the community to sway the casual voter to make the extra trip to the ballot box.

Regardless, the COURIER will be covering the highs and lows of election night. We'll start the evening off at city hall where city staff will start counting ballots starting at 8 p.m.

After that, we'll visit and talk with the candidates at their parties around town.

Check in to the COURIER City Beat later this evening for election updates and photos. The COURIER homepage will have full election results on Wednesday morning.

We want to hear your thoughts on the election results. Be sure to post a comment below.