Election Roundup: Northeast Washington

No election-night outcome was changed Wednesday when additional absentee and vote-by-mail ballots were counted in Pend Oreille, Ferry and Lincoln counties.

However, a Newport Cemetery District 1 operating levy that was listed as failing Tuesday night actually was narrowly passing when invalid ballots were disregarded. The Pend Oreille County election computer assigns percentages to so-called over and under votes - ballots that are marked more than once on a given issue, or not at all.

The computer glitch, which officials say can’t be corrected, causes misleading percentages in the county’s election report.

The $33,000 cemetery operating levy had 61.7 percent support, 2,006 to 1,247, after more absentee ballots were counted Wednesday. It needs 60 percent support to pass.

The race between incumbent Pend Oreille County Commissioner Mike Hanson and challenger Michael Quick remained so close that the outcome could change next week when more late-arriving absentee ballots are counted. Republican Hanson now has 2,083 votes to Democrat Quick’s 2,023.

No additional ballots were counted Wednesday in Stevens County, where Democrat Kathy Moss is trailing Republican Tony Delgado by 535 votes in their race for the county’s southern commissioner district. At least 1,778 ballots remain to be counted Monday, and officials say more could arrive before then. The outcomes of two close commissioner races in Ferry County were unchanged Wednesday when more absentee ballots were counted.

Whitman County

Overwhelmed by mail-in ballots, the Whitman County auditor’s office said Wednesday that it still has several thousand ballots to count and the final results of the local election issues won’t be out until next week.

Though the county has about 8,800 regular ballots already in and counted, the outstanding votes could change the direction for a large number of town levies to raise money for streets, police, cemeteries and pools.

As of Nov. 6, the auditor’s office had sent out 6,436 absentee and mail-in ballots and 3,778 had been returned. A good number of returns came in Tuesday as well.

Counting these ballots is more timeconsuming for the office because each signature has to be checked by hand. The county auditor expects to have a complete count by Monday.

N. Idaho voters set record

Election officials posted record days Tuesday throughout North Idaho.

In Kootenai County, 45,075 residents voted, breaking the county record of 37,000 set in 1996.

Kootenai County’s turnout reached 80 percent, which was the highest since the 84 percent turnout in 1972.

The 71 percent turnout in Bonner County was 15,090 voters, which beat the 1996 general election record by 20.

State issues

Son of 695: Voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 722 - it failed only in Whitman and San Juan counties - which limits property-tax levies and values, and orders the repeal and refund of some tax increases imposed last year.

It was a strong message: With 99 percent of precincts reporting and thousands of absentee ballots remaining to be counted, the measure was ahead 57 percent to 43 percent.

For sponsor Tim Eyman, approval of I-722 amounted to sweet revenge because its parent measure, I-695, was struck down last month by the state Supreme Court.

The $30 license tabs ordered by I-695 are here to stay after the Legislature approved them last session.

Critics say there’s a chance I-722 could also fall to a legal challenge.

Dick Lilly, spokesman for Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, said city officials are talking to officials from other cities and taxing districts about filing a legal challenge against the initiative.

Eyman predicted I-722 will stand up in court, and might even be put into law by legislators feeling the pressure from voters frustrated with high taxes.

Charter schools: Charter school backers held out the slimmest of hopes that absentee ballots might save their initiative from failure, but the prospect looked dim despite a $3.4 million campaign that included heavy TV advertising.

With hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots still outstanding, I-729 was failing by about 40,000 votes. The initiative passed in only six counties, all in the Puget Sound area - Whatcom, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Jefferson and Island.