Friday ballot update moves election tally to 71 percent

Another 4,742 ballots were added to the general election tally in a second run of the ballots Friday afternoon. The total count moved to 15,105 for a turnout rate of just more than 71 percent.

Whitman County returns continued to favor Rob McKenna who has now conceded the gubnatorial race to Democrat Jay Inslee. The vote here was 8,217 for McKenna and 6,333 for Inslee.

McKenna conceded the race after continued state election returns showed he was not gaining ground in the lead posted by Inslee in the late election returns. The returns here were viewed as one place where the Republican candidate could pick up votes.

The county returns also favored GOP candidate Micheal Baumbartner who lost to incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell. Baumbartner has 50.6 percent of the voters here, 7,400 vs. 7,217 for Cantwell.

In the two contested commissioner races, the election night leaders continued to post strong margins. Art Swannack leads Bill Tensfeld 6,500 to 4,795, and Dean Kinzer leads Pat O’Neill, 8,008 to 5,294.

Closest count for state measures was the same-sex marriage referendum which gained ground in the second-round count. The referendum’s 48.6 share on election night advanced to 49.97 in the late returns and now trails by just nine votes.

The narrow election night edge in favor of the marijuana initiative remained unchanged at 51.58 percent in the second ballot count, 7,607 yes and 7,140 no.

County voters turned down the charter school initiative with a 54.9 percent no vote, 7,853 to 6,446.

The elections office Friday reported they now have an estimated 800 more ballots to count. Next run for those ballots has been scheduled for today.

Certification date for the electon will be Nov. 27, after the county’s canvass board reviews ballots which have been sidetracked for review. Top factor in disqualification of ballots is the postmark deadline.

Ballots which have been stopped because of questionable signatures are held in limbo. The elections crew sends a letter of notification to the voter. If the voter fails to respond to the notice, the ballots will also go before the canvass board to rule on the signature matchup.