Late votes tip results of levies

Griffin district below threshold; Yelm ahead

ALMA D. SHARPE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, February 8, 2002

OLYMPIA -- The nail-biting continued Thursday evening as South Sound educators and parents watched the latest vote count change Tuesday's election results.

Thursday night's count shifted two trends from election night:

- The Griffin School District bond dropped below the required 60 percent passage by one vote.

- The Yelm Community Schools $9 million levy climbed above 60 percent by five votes.

Rochester School District, however, didn't get enough votes to reach the 60 percent passing rate for its $3.1 million levy.

As of Thursday night, it had a passing rate of 58.01 percent in Thurston County, and a 63.27 percent passing rate in Lewis County.

"I would guess at this stage that we probably will not make it," Rochester Superintendent Jim Anderson said. "That's probably too much to overcome."

The Rochester School Board will likely run another levy proposal in April, Anderson said.

Yelm Superintendent Alan Burke said he knew of 80 ballots that remained unaccounted for in his district in Pierce County, plus about 40 more that are going through the Thurston County Canvassing Board to be closely examined for lack of signatures or other problems.

As of Tuesday night, the Yelm levy had a passing rate of 60.12 percent, or 2,516 yes votes, among its voters in both Pierce and Thurston counties.

"We're not going to celebrate yet," Burke said. "But we are really elated that the later votes have been so positive."

For his part, Harry Carthum, Griffin schools superintendent, said it was hard watching his district's $12.9 million bond go down by one vote. It received a passing rate of 59.97 percent, or 1,143 yes votes.

"You remain optimistic," he said. "It certainly gives credibility that the supermajority requirement does not reflect the will of the majority. Essentially 60 percent of the people approved this bond, but it has the effect of the majority saying no."

There are still about 18 ballots to be counted that could change Griffin's outcome yet again.

While Thurston County voters did not give the Centralia School District an approval rating on its levy on election night, Thursday night's count made up the difference. Adding those numbers to the Lewis County votes gave the district's levy a total approval rating of 67.83 percent, or 2,716 yes votes.

There will be another count today, followed by another one on Wednesday. The final count will be Feb. 15.

On the Web:

- Thurston County Auditor: Election Results

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