School levy’s outcome gets OK by police

Police found no wrongdoing in election counts after property owners in Boundary County questioned a close-call vote on a supplemental school levy, which passed in May.

The $985,000 maintenance and operations levy was $256,000 more than last year’s levy, meaning a $30 property tax increase on a home valued at $100,000. It passed by 12 votes.

The group of about 40 Boundary County property owners filed a civil complaint Tuesday against the Boundary County School District. Allen and Denna Riffel of Bonners Ferry filed the complaint on behalf of the group asking voter information be released.

Denna Riffel said the group isn’t pushing a lawsuit, but wanted to clear up discrepancies in the voter tally, such as “apparent double voting,” a felony, stated in the claim. The complaint also said the group counted 2,626 voters and 93 absentee ballots, putting the total outcome at 2,719, rather than the final outcome reported of 2,813.

Tina Wilson, chairman of the board of trustees, said the school district canvassed the final 2,813 vote tally, omitting three invalid votes.

“We’re not trying to condemn anybody here,” Riffel said. “We just wanted the votes counted with the affidavit lists to find out where those 94 votes are.”

Rick Alonzo of the Bonners Ferry Police Department served a search warrant at the school district offices Thursday. However, after reviewing names and voter lists, he found the double voting claim to be unfounded and found no evidence of vote tampering.

“There was no crime,” Alonzo said.

The levy was pitched in March as a two-year levy and failed by about 150 votes. However, the risk of shutting down schools and cutting staff created an outcry at district offices, so the levy was changed to one-year, said Wilson.