With today’s election deadline approaching, school bond supporters in Tacoma and Puyallup are watching ballot returns carefully. And it’s not just about yes votes and no votes, which won't be tallied until tonight.
Not only must bond measures win a 60-percent supermajority to pass, they also require a minimum number of voters to participate for the election to validate.
Monday afternoon, the Pierce County Auditor’s Office said that 28,238 ballots had been returned in the Tacoma School District and 19,913 in the Puyallup School District.
Even if every one of those ballots carried a yes vote, that’s 7,535 ballots short of the number needed to validate in Tacoma and 2,675 ballots short of the number needed in Puyallup.
The auditor’s office reported that a total of 5,963 ballots were received Monday.
Tacoma is asking voters to approve a $500 million bond measure to rebuild or remodel 14 schools, plus make safety and security upgrades at most other campuses. Puyallup is seeking approval of a $279.6 million bond measure to add capacity at three high schools, build a new elementary school and replace or expand three others.
Eric Wilson, who is working for the Tacoma bond campaign committee, said boosters would continue to make phone calls to voters through election day.
“Every single vote counts,” he said.“We are reaching out to every voter.”
In Puyallup, bond supporters had wrapped up their phone campaign last week but were out waving signs Monday.
Voters have until 8 p.m. today to return their ballots to county drop boxes. Ballots mailed today must bear today’s postmark to be counted.
The voter turnout validation number is calculated based on a percentage of the number of voters who cast ballots in the previous November general election. That raises the bar for bond measures that follow high-profile elections like last year’s presidential contest.
The validation requirement and the 60-percent approval applies only to school bond elections, not to school levies.
Auditor's staff will do the bulk of the vote counting tonight but will keep counting throughout the week as later ballots arrive in the mail.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
HOW AND WHERE TO VOTE
Voters in Tacoma and Puyallup have until 8 p.m. today to cast their votes in special school bond elections. Ballots must be postmarked by today or returned to a designated ballot drop box or the county elections office by 8 p.m.
Drop boxes are at:
• Northeast Tacoma Police Substation, 4731 Norpoint Way, Tacoma.
• Edgewood City Hall, 2224 104th Ave. E., Edgewood.
• Puyallup Library, 324 S. Meridian, Puyallup.
• South Hill Library, 15420 Meridian Ave E., Puyallup.
• Kandle Park police substation, 5140 N. 26th St., Tacoma.
• 72nd Street Transit Center, 1319 E. 72nd St., Tacoma.
• Pierce County Annex, 2401 S. 35th St., Tacoma.
• Pierce County Community Connections, 3611 S. D St., Tacoma.
• TACID: Tacoma Area Coalition for Individuals with Disabilities, 6315 S. 19th St., Tacoma.
• Tacoma Dome Park & Ride, 610 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma.
• County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave., Tacoma (outside second-floor entrance).
• University Place Fire Department, 3631 Drexler Drive W., University Place.
Voting centers, which offer accommodations for disabled voters, are open today from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Services at the voting centers include accessible touch-screen voting, provisional ballots, voter assistance from elections staff and voter registration.
Voting centers are at:
• Puyallup Library, 324 S. Meridian, Puyallup.
• Pierce County Elections Center, 2501 S. 35th St., Tacoma.
• TACID: Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities, 6315 S. 19th St., Tacoma.
RESULTS ONLINE TONIGHT
For up-to-date election results, go to www.thenewstribune.com tonight. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office plans to release the bulk of election results around 8:15 p.m. and another round at 9:30 p.m. Auditor staff members are scheduled to count every day this week, depending on the volume of later ballots received through the mail.
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