1995 Clark County MAX Vote

In 1995, Clark County, WA held a special election asking voters if they would approve taxes to fund an expansion of MAX light rail service from downtown Portland into downtown Vancouver. At the time, the vote failed, and recorded in the County’s Election books (not stored electronically).

A decade later, this issue resurfaced due to a proposed new bridge being planned by the Columbia River Crossing. If a MAX line did extend into Vancouver, then C-TRAN would manage once it crossed state lines. In order for construction to occur, C-TRAN must let voters decide. However, there had been one major political impact since 1995. In 1998, the State of Washington had cut funding, and C-TRAN needed voters to approve a sales tax hike in 2004 in order to remain operating. The vote failed. The following year, after reducing service, the State of Washington allowed C-TRAN to go to vote again, this time limiting the vote to only those in a newly defined service area of all Clark County incorporated cities and the Urban Growth Boundary of Vancouver. This time, the vote passed.

What Cowley wanted to know was, if those same rural areas had been excluded in the 1995 vote, would the vote have passed? Her map analysis showed that no, excluding rural areas would have hardly made a difference in the outcome of the vote.

Please note that Cowley used colors deemed viewable to those who are  color blind by Professor Cynthia Brewer of Penn State as published on Color Brewer.

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