Canvass board okays just two more ballots

Whitman County was slated to certify the Feb. 9 election Wednesday morning, after the county canvass board Tuesday reviewed 41 ballots that had been set aside for various reasons by the elections department of the county auditor’s office.

The canvass board rejected all but two of the 41 ballots in question. One of those was a signature that elections staff questioned but was determined to be valid.

The other ballot had been returned without a postmark, but the date next to the signature was before the Feb. 9 deadline.

None of the results changed from the final count, according to Karen Bafus, county elections technician.

The Colfax school levy failed with 791 no votes and 601 yes votes for just over 43 percent in favor.

Farmington’s equipment levy also continued to be below passing rates, with 27 yes votes and 24 no votes for 53 percent favorable.

A 60 percent majority was required for the town levies.

Twelve of the Colfax ballots were sent to the canvass board, and none were accepted. Five were rejected because they were postmarked too late, five had invalid signatures, one ballot was not marked and one was invalidated because the ballot envelope came back empty.

The canvass board included Auditor Eunice Coker, Byron Bedirian for the prosecutor’s office, and Commissioner Patrick O’Neill.