Pullman bonds — did they pass or fail?

PULLMAN, Wash. — City officials are trying to determine if Pullman's two bond proposals on the November ballot have passed or failed.

Despite an announcement by the city Nov. 14 that Propositions No. 1 and No. 2 passed, city officials were not so certain that was the case Monday night, and the election must be certified today.

Proposition No. 1 — a 20-year bond for up to $10.5 million — would purchase a new city hall and recreation facility; Proposition No. 2 — a 10-year, $2.4 million replacement bond — would fund upgrades to parks and paths throughout the city.

Footbridge over South Fork Palouse River at SE Pine St., Pullman, Wash.

City Attorney Laura McAloon said the city was notified Nov. 14 by Whitman County Elections staff that the city's voter turnout was 3,922, which exceeded the 3,854 the county said needed to be met for the bonds to reach the voter turnout requirement needed for the bonds to pass - 40 percent of the previous general election.

However, stories from the city and county don't add up.

"We haven't told anybody anything has passed or not passed," Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker said.

Coker clarified each individual proposition requires 3,854 votes to pass to reach the 40 percent voter turnout requirement.

According to the Whitman County Elections Office website, with only an estimated 100 ballots left to count from throughout the county, as of Nov. 16, Proposition No. 1 had 3,724 total votes, about 130 votes behind the stated requirement; Proposition No. 2 was about 158 votes behind.

"That's not to say more aren't going to come in," Coker said. "I wish we didn't have to put how many there were - it's a total estimate."

She said the county did receive a package of ballots from King and Spokane Counties on Monday, but historically the county doesn't receive many ballots in the days before the election is certified.

McAloon said the city went back and counted each precinct from the 2016 November election and found the 40 percent voter turnout requirement should be closer to 3,100.

"It was higher than what we calculated," she said. "Right now we don't know what number we're supposed to get to; the city is just going to wait and see what Eunice tells us (today)."

One issue that appears could bring the bonds closer to passage is whether those voters who submitted ballots without voting on a proposition - "under voters" - can be counted toward the overall voter turnout requirement.

That would add 71 voters to proposition No. 1, putting it about 60 votes behind, and 99 voters to Proposition No. 2, leaving it also about 60 votes behind the needed requirement.

Sheryl Moss, elections certification and training program manager for the Office of the Secretary of State, wrote in an email, "it's our opinion that voters must vote yes or no on an issue to count toward the 40 percent requirement, however, it is ultimately the city that would determine if bonds meet the requirements."

Tribune Content Agency
Bond elections Washington
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