WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — Yesterday, February 8th, a Special Election was held via mail-in ballots regarding approval or rejection of property taxes for 2 school districts and a proposed library. Initial counts fell short for the 2 propositions that require a 60% super-majority for approval.
The following are the initial results after 34,841 ballots had been counted by 8:12pm yesterday.
Bellingham School District 501 Proposition 2022-3 General Obligation Bonds – $122,000,000 (requires 60% super-majority)
| Vote | Vote % | |
|---|---|---|
| Approved | 13,676 | 59.29% |
| Rejected | 9,391 | 40.71% |
| Total Votes | 23,067 |
Ferndale School District 502 Proposition 2022-1 School Programs and Operations Replacement Levy
| Vote | Vote % | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 5,241 | 59.29% |
| No | 3,598 | 40.71% |
| Total Votes | 8,839 |
Whatcom County Rural Library District Proposition 2022-2 Establishing the Birch Bay Library Capital Facility Area (requires 60% super-majority)
| Vote | Vote % | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 1,730 | 56.74% |
| No | 1,319 | 43.26% |
| Total Votes | 3,049 |
Officials with the Ferndale School District issued a statement about 8:30pm yesterday declaring their levy proposition had been approved.
Bellingham Public Schools officials issued a statement acknowledging the initial count fell short of the required 60% approval need but remained optimistic. “We find that the later ballots tend to favor school measures at a higher rate.”
The next ballot count is expected today about 5pm.
According to my calculations (and based on the report of approximately 1,500 votes outstanding): 1,064 of the remaining 1,500 votes need to go to “approve” for the BSD bond measure to pass. It’s a close one!