Early results are in, a number of levies failing while recall is passing

By Kayse Angel • February 13, 2018 9:30 pm
A voter drops of their ballot at a drop off box in Maple Valley for the November 2017 election. File photo by Kayse Angel
A voter drops of their ballot at a drop off box in Maple Valley for the November 2017 election. File photo by Kayse Angel

It was that time again to count the thousands of ballots that were returned Tuesday for the February Special Election.

The first numbers showed two school districts levies hopes in trouble and a recall of a city councilwoman sailing through.

Results started rolling in at 8 p.m. and will continue to be tallied until Feb. 23 when the final results are certified.

Three school districts — Tahoma, Kent and Enumclaw — had a number of levies on the ballot.

The recall against Black Diamond city councilwoman Pat Pepper was also on February’s ballot.

The results at the time of press are below.

According to the King County Elections website more than an estimated 20,000 ballots remain to be counted.

Results will be updated daily at 4 p.m. on the King County Elections website and posted to maplevalleyreporter.com.

Tahoma

Late Tuesday all three of Tahoma School District’s levies were failing.

The district proposed two new levies to replace ones expiring that passed during the 2014 special election as well as a third, new levy.

These proposed levies are the new bus levy, an Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) replacement levy and a Technology replacement levy.

Currently, the bus levy is failing with 53.09 percent no and 46.91 percent yes.

The EP&O levy is also failing with 55.27 percent no votes and 44.73 percent yet.

The third levy is failing with 54.86 percent no and 45.14 percent yes.

In order for a school levy to pass, according to the King County Elections website, a simple majority is required.

A simple majority requires at least 50 percent yes votes in order to pass.

“To me it was a slam-dunk, if you look at it from a variety of different angles, it makes sense,” Dana Parnello, deputy mayor of Maple Valley, said in a previous phone interview. “The school district is the city’s No. 1 employer, so supporting that (the levies) makes a lot of sense. To me, there was no downside to saying ‘yes’.”

Kent

The Kent School District proposed two levies — a replacement EP&O and a levy for Capital Improvements for Safety, Security Instruction, Classroom and Support Services and Technology.

With a slim margin, both of the KSD levies are currently failing.

The EP&O has 51.14 percent no votes and 48.86 percent yes.

While the second levy has 51.61 percent no and 48.39 yes.

Enumclaw

The Enumclaw School District has one proposed levy on this February ballot.

The levy is a replacement for the expiring Educational Programs and Operations levy.

The cost for this levy, according to a previous article by Kevin Hanson, senior writer for the Courier Herald, will be $1.50 per $1,000.

Currently, the yes votes are accounting for 56.11 percent while 43.89 are no votes.

Black Diamond Recall

The recall filed against Pepper is currently passing with 68.27 percent yes and 31.73 percent no.

According to the elections website, in order to pass this measure a simple majority is also required.