Primary elections results certified

37 percent of voters participate in first all-mail election

EPHRATA — The results from the 2005 primary were certified on Friday by Grant County officials and they said that turnout was 37 percent in the county's first all-mail ballot primary election.

Grant County Auditor Bill Varney said the primary went smoothly, but believes more time is needed between the general election and primary. He said he would prefer that the primary be held in May or June to give election officials more time in case a recount is necessary in a statewide race.

One vote was disqualified in the race for Moses Lake city council position No. 1 because the signature and name written on the ballot didn't match the one printed on the label sent out by election officials. The vote, however, would not have made a difference in the race.

In the Moses Lake city council race Bill Ecret finished with 1,095 votes and Fernando Alvarez had 970. Third place finisher Richard H. Beeson was eliminated with 387 votes.

Officials counted one provisional ballot from Desert Aire, where voters in that area passed the Fire District 8 tax levy proposition 1 by a wide margin. Voters said yes to the levy 398 times while 75 voters said no, for a 84 percent to nearly 16 percent breakdown, respectively.

Varney said that there will be a hand recount on Thursday, Sept. 6, in the race for Electric City council position No. 2. He said that Jerry Sands will move on to the general election with 109 votes, but votes will again be counted for Wayne Svaren, who received 106 votes, and for Mark A. Borden, who received 105 votes, to determine Sands' opponent on Nov. 8.

Varney said it wasn't statistically close enough to do a hand recount for the race, but the small number of votes made it more cost effective than a machine recount. He said that his office will be notifying both Svaren and Borden of the recount to be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, and that the candidates will be invited to attend or send a representative to observe.

In the other Electric City race, Mayor Raymond R. Halsey will face Bob Rupe in the general election. Halsey received 115 votes, while Rupe had 103. Troy L. Ritter earned 74 votes and was eliminated along with Don Daniels who garnered 39.

In the Coulee City mayor's race, interim Mayor Bob Little received 132 votes to second-place finisher and general-election opponent Richard H. Heiberg's 53 votes. Corey Minatani received 18 votes for third place.

"These odd year elections just don't draw that much attention from people, and we only had four places with primaries," Varney said. "A lot of people only vote in the general election."

Ballots for the general election will be mailed out on Oct. 21, he said.