Update: Friday, April 27 at 4 p.m.: King County Elections has posted final results of the April 17 election. With regards to Enumclaw's Proposition No. 1 concerning the annexation of the city library into King County Library System, the measure passes by 34 votes (1,207 'yes' votes or 50.71 percent; 1,173 'no' votes or 49.29 percent).
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King County Elections is expecting to have final results from the April 17 special election posted by 1 p.m. Friday, April 27, and as of Thursday afternoon, votes in favor of Enumclaw's Proposition No. 1 concerning the annexation of the city library into King County Library System were still ahead by a margin of 32.
There were 1,205 votes in favor of the proposition (50.67 percent) and 1,173 votes against (49.33 percent). As of Thursday, the elections office has received 2,380 ballots from 6,393 registered voters, or 37.23 percent.
Though the issue of whether or not to keep the library under local control has been sometimes hotly debated in the local community in the weeks leading up to the election, votes counted so far don't necessarily reflect that. Here's a look back at some other elections in the last few years and what the turnout numbers were:
- November 2011: 3,244 ballots cast of 6,262 registered voters, or 51.8 percent
- November 2010: 4,172 ballots cast of 6,014 registered voters, or 69.37 percent
- November 2009: 3,156 ballots cast of 6,040 registered voters, or 52.25 percent
Validation of Enumclaw's Proposition No. 1 requires a simple majority. According to county elections spokesperson Barbara Ramey, that means 50 percent plus 1, so Thursday night's margin of 32 is wide enough for a clear election result at the time of certification, assuming no big changes in ballot count.
Ramey told Patch Thursday morning based on uncertified results at the time that none of the races in the April 17 election look poised for a recount though parties can still request a recount -- and pay for them.
Click here to visit King County Elections for more information.
