The Yakima County Auditor’s office has released the third count of ballots in the 2015 General Election. Yakima County uses an all-mail-in voting system, so ballots that were postmarked before midnight on November 3rd will still be considered valid for the General Election.
So far, turnout in Yakima County for the 2015 General Election is just over 32.37%. Of the 108,263 ballots issued, 35,042 have been returned. The Auditor’s office has estimated the final turnout will be in the neighborhood of 36% to 38%.
In Yakima City Council District 1, Dulce Gutiérrez continues to build on her election night lead over Russell Montiero and now has 84.93% (462 votes) versus 12.13% (66 votes) for Montiero.
Avina Gutiérrez also has more of the vote in District 2 than she did in the first two counts and has now extended her lead over Maud Scott 68.92% (468 votes) to 30.78% (209 votes).
In District 3, Carmen Méndez grew her lead over Kelly Rosenow by almost a percentage point and currently has 53.67% (966 votes) of the vote while Rosenow has 44.94% (809 votes).
Incumbent Councilmember Bill Lover has lost one percentage point from his lead over his District 4 challenger, Tony Sandoval, that he had after yesterday’s count. Lover has 59.42% of the vote (801 votes) while Sandoval has brought in 39.32% (530 votes).
Current Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey’s lead over Reed Pell in District 5 has remained essentially unchanged since election night. Coffey has been supported by 62.30% of voters (1,350 votes) while Pell has pulled in 36.69% (795 votes).
Incumbent Councilmember Maureen Adkison’s lead over her challenger, Gavin Keefe, in District 6 has risen less than a percentage point from yesterday’s total and now stands at 58.37% (2,079 votes) to 40.48% (1,442 votes).
Holly Cousens’ lead over Gunner Berg in District 7 dropped a little from the second ballot count. Cousens has received 58.60% (1,595 votes) of the votes compared to 40.45% (1,101 votes) for Berg.
A ballot measure to continue a 3/10ths of 1% sales tax throughout Yakima County to fund public safety efforts is now being supported by 74.21% of voters (25,195 votes) and opposed by 25.79% (8,756 votes).
The 2015 General Election also featured city council races in Yakima County’s 13 other cities and towns as well as mayor races in Grandview, Granger, Harrah, Moxee, Naches, Selah, Tieton, and Wapato. Seats on special purpose district boards, such as school districts, fire district, and port districts, were also up for election. School district bond measures in East Valley, Toppenish, and Zillah were on the ballot this time around and the Selah Parks and Recreation District is asking voters to approve funding for a new aquatics facility.
Two statewide initiatives and four statewide advisory votes were also on the ballot.
Additional ballot counts will be conducted over the next few days. Ballot counts will continue periodically until all of the ballots that were received before the midnight November 3rd deadline have been tabulated. The 2015 General Election will be certified on November 24th.
Third Count of General Election Ballots Released – News Release