Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
On Nov. 16, this paper and another area newspaper reported opposite results on the same issue. The Gazette stated the Pullman bond measures had not reached their validation point whereas the other paper reported Pullman had. So, which is it?
The answer to that may still be pending.
Each bond is passing based on the percentage of yes votes they have received. But in the air is whether they have been validated, which means if they have received 40 percent of the number of voters who participated in the last general election which was the presidential race last year.
The question of validation hangs on whether all returned ballots are counted or just those that voted on the specific issues, in this case the bonds.
To validate its bonds, Pullman needs 3,854 ballots returned. The measures at stake are a $10.5 million general obligation bond and $2.4 million general obligation bond. The bonds have received 3,724 and 3,696 total votes, respectively.
Total number of ballots returned by Pullman voters is 3,946. This is the number Pullman officials used to justify their declaration of validation. Yet that number included voters who did not make a decision on the bonds and those in question for duplication, mis-matched signatures and other questions of validity.
“Whether we received them or not does not mean they’re valid,” said Karen Bafus, elections staff.
The Office of the Secretary of State sent out a memo to election departments to clarify the validation questions.
“In our view, voters must vote Yes or No on a measure to count toward the 40 percent requirement. Undervotes and overvotes do not count,” the email memo states. “However, it is ultimately each jurisdiction that must determine if the bond or levy meets the requirement.”
The jurisdiction in this case is Pullman.
According to Auditor Eunice Coker, the county does not make the determination of whether an issue passes or doesn’t. The elections offices provides the numbers to the jurisdictions, but does not interpret the results.
A Gazette call to the OSOS reinforced the memo’s statement. To be counted toward the 40 percent validation number, a ballot must cast a vote for that issue, stated an OSOS spokesperson. It is the turnout for the actual measure that counts and is applied to each issue individually.
Pullman officials have cited RCW 84.52.056 which reads “the total number of persons voting at the election” as justification for validation. By that measure, Pullman has topped its validation threshold.
So what is the verdict? In this case, it seems the best thing for a reporter to do is stand back and bide her time while other higher powers wrestle with the question and wait for the final say.
The election is set to be certified Nov. 28.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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