Turnout increased in countywide all-mail election

Votes certified Tuesday in Grant, Adams counties

COLUMBIA BASIN — Voters turned out in higher numbers this November than they did in the two previous odd-year elections, but are on par with turnout in similar elections in the late 1990s.

Final general election results were certified Tuesday, following the first countywide election in Grant County where all voters cast their votes through the mail. And that first all-mail election was pulled off without any problems, according to Grant County Auditor Bill Varney.

"We thought it went pretty well, I feel like it increased voter turnout," Varney said.

Approximately 60 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in the Nov. 8 election highlighted by a half dozen statewide initiatives, with 19,648 ballots counted in the final tally.

Turnout for the last two odd-year general elections in 2001 and 2003 did not rise above 46 percent,. This year's turnout was similar to odd-year general elections in 1999 in which nearly 60 percent of voters cast ballots, and 1997, which saw a higher turnout than this year of 61.7 percent.

The final count saw an additional 4,700 votes pour into the Grant County Courthouse after election night, but final totals for most races mirrored preliminary tallies. Neither Grant nor Adams county will hold recounts following the election.

Grant County made the switch to all-mail elections in June, a switch many counties around the state have also made following 2004 election problems.

Varney proposed the change to the county commissioners in part because of a steady increase in the number of voters who had already signed up for permanent absentee ballots. In the last odd-year election in 2003, 64.8 percent of those who voted did so through the mail, up from 32.8 percent in 1997.

"The trend was there anyway, people were voting by mail by their own choice," he said.

Varney also proposed the change to save money on voting machines the county must begin using next year. The federal government is requiring handicap voting devices in each polling place beginning in 2006, and the county's switch to all-mail elections drops the number of polling places and machines needed from 33 to five.

In the only Grant countywide vote, a sales tax increase for emergency dispatch system repairs finished with more than two-thirds of voters in favor of the one-tenth of one percent sales tax increase that needed only a simple majority vote. Proposition 1 passed by a vote of 12,807 votes and 67.35 percent in favor to 6,209 votes and 32.65 percent against.

Moses Lake elected two new councilman to seats being vacated by councilmen Lee Blackwell and Steve Shinn. Radio station director and planning commissioner Bill Ecret won the race for Council Position No. 1 with 1,941 votes and 54.72 percent to 1,606 votes and 45.28 percent for educator and former parks and recreation commissioner Fernando Alvarez. In the race for Council Position No. 5, business owner and planning commissioner Jim Liebrecht garnered 1,854 votes and 57.24 percent to win against retired business owner and former councilman Chet Paine who had 1,385 votes and 42.76 percent.

In Ephrata, incumbent Mayor Chris Jacobson has officially won re-election by a vote of 1,577 votes and 71.81 percent against challenger and business owner Steve Oliver who had 619 votes and 28.19 percent. In the other contested race in Ephrata, incumbent Councilman Mark Wanke won with 1,187 votes and 53.52 percent to former Chamber of Commerce President Janice Moore who received 1,031 votes and 46.48 percent for Council Position No. 2.

Othello's new mayor will be the councilman who has been serving as the city's mayor pro-tem, as Shannon McKay has defeated fellow Councilman Marc Spohr by a vote of 546 and 54.1 percent to 464 and 45.9 percent. In the race for Othello Council Position No. 3, business owner Ken Caylor won with 547 votes and 56.7 percent to 418 votes and 43.3 percent for hospital payroll specialist Sue Inks.

Also in Othello, a race in which officials had been planning a recount, incumbent Eleanor Brodahl defeated challenger and Othello Chamber of Commerce president Chasity Krebs by a vote of 499 votes 50.4 percent for Brodahl to 491 votes and 49.6 percent for Krebs for Council Position No. 2. Adams County election officials said the recount will not take place unless a candidate challenges because the final tally was greater than the one-half of one percent threshold needed to trigger an automatic recount.

Incumbent Soap Lake Councilwoman Marina Romary filed against Martin Ringhofer as a write-in candidate and won, garnering 275 votes to Ringhofer's 145 for Council Position No. 4. Also in Soap Lake, Kandis Lair defeated Melissa DeLancey by a vote of 289 and 68.32 percent to 134 votes and 31.68 percent for Council Position No. 3. John Hillman won with 350 votes and 90.9 percent to write-in candidate George Waters who received 35 votes and 9.1 percent for Council Position No. 5.

Quincy Mayor Dick Zimbelman was re-elected with a vote of 438 votes and 54.75 percent over challenger Peter Smith who received 362 votes and 45.25 percent.

In Warden a cemetery levy passed after getting more than the 60 percent needed. Voters in Cemetery District No. 4 approved the levy with 412 votes and 62.24 percent in favor, compared with 250 votes and 37.76 percent against the one-year levy.

Complete election results are available at the Grant and Adams County Web sites at www.co.grant.wa.us or www.co.adams.wa.us.