FIFTH ENTRY (11:30 to midnight): The 2006 election is nearing a close and Iron County experienced a few glitches, again. It wasn't as severe as last year when the counting machine broke down and County Clerk David Yardley had to take a trip to Provo to receive assistance in completing the tallies, but precinct reporting wasn't able to happen in a timely manner when a couple of them had discrepancies with the amount of ballots cast and the actually number recorded. Audits had to be conducted, which caused the remaining precincts to report late - very late.
By 12 a.m., 30 of the 33 precincts had reported. Though three precincts were still not accounted for the results that were in showed clear cut victories for Mark Gower as Iron County Sheriff, David Ayers as Iron County Assessor (his sixth term), Lois Bulloch as Iron County Commissioner and Barbara Corry as a school board member. The race between LynAnn Ellsworth and Curtis Crawford for school board was too close to call with only 50 votes between them - Ellsworth in the lead.
Interestingly, Jim Matheson lost to LaVar Christensen in Iron County. Though Matheson retains his Congressional seat by garnering the most votes statewide, it must've been disappointing to lose in the county that his ancestors founded.
More noteworthy was the flip-flop by Washington County voters and the tax leeway. Proposition 1 that failed in June, passed this time with 13,144 votes in favor and 12,285 against. This will enable the school district to recruit and retain teachers, pay for reading programs and other necessities. An estimated $4.59 per month increase on taxes on a $200,000 home will now be instituted and help educate Washington County students. Kudos! That's a change of heart that will have significant rewards.
The only disappointment I have is in the number of registered voters who exercised their right to vote. Approximately 30 percent of Southern Utah's registered voters turned out to the polls. I don't understand why we don't have 100 percent. There is no reason not to vote, aside from natural disaster or medical emergency. If you are one of those voters who elected not to cast a ballot, make a resolution to vote next time. You really do count!
FOURTH ENTRY (10:30 p.m.): Here in Southern Utah the voters have shown they want more of the same, meaning predominantly Republican candidates and incumbents taking office, as compared to the nation that has displayed it wants a change with the Democrats taking the House - making Nancy Pelosi the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
Democrats picked up at least the 15 seats they needed to win control of the House for the first time since 1994, according to TV network projections from ABC News one hour ago. They also made some strides in the Senate with three seats in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Ohio, ABC News reported.
Historically speaking, this wasn't a surprise. The party holding the White House traditionally loses seats in a president's sixth year. Even ABC News reported that.
The waves of this mid-term election were fairly calm. No upsets or big shockers. The one unknown variable lies with the Washington County School District's voted tax leeway. With 75 of 78 Precincts reporting, it was tight with 12,530 votes for passing Proposition 1 and 11,856 votes against it.
What would the district do without it? There are still three precincts to report. The leeway failed once before so if it fails a second time the district will be faced with a huge dilemma on how to pay teachers the starting salary of $29,000 a year it promised it would. Furthermore, what good will it do the district to have the bond that passed a few months ago that will pay for the new construction of schools when it won't be able to pay teachers to fill them?
I'm cheering for these remaining precincts to pull the leeway through. The district simply won't be able to accommodate its students academically to the best of its ability without it.
For those still waiting for final tallies, find out where you lie on the political scope of issues by answering some questions on politicalcompass.org. You might be surprised ...
The final blog on this election will be at midnight. Don't be afraid to chime in. Tell us all how you feel Election Day went today.
THIRD ENTRY (9:30 p.m.): I was on I-15, headed north on my way to Cedar City, when I decided to see who else from the Republican Party in Southern Utah was at the Salt Lake Hilton. I called Dennis Stowell, Utah Senate Dist. 28 candidate, and he was there. He'd just arrived and was settling into the suite for the Senate candidates.The House candidates had a seperate suite. He sounded excited and thrilled to be among other political hopefuls as I'm sure the Democrats were across the street at the Marriott, doing the same thing.
That enthusiasm caused me to reflect on my election nights in the newsroom. They have all been like incoming waves of the ocean with some worthy of surfing that give you a jolt of adrenaline. Every now and then you can ride the wave smoothly and there are other times you crash and burn from the unexpected.
Tonight is no different. City Editor Ed Kociela and Copy Editor Angela Etter were reminiscing about the early 70's when the county auditor would update the ballot counts on a chalk board during the evening that was surrounded by candidates and the media while the reporters were anxiously awaiting pizza. MSNBC was on the television and the rumblings of controversy about the elections across the nation were prevalent.
Every now and then, you could here the clicks of the computer keyboard of reporters checking the state county Web sites for results; www.ironcounty.net - www.washco.state.ut.us - www.kanecountyutah.net - electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/main.html
As the results start coming in, anxiety builds and as a reporter you can't wait to get comment. Here is what I know thus far:
Orrin Hatch 61.82 %
Pete Ashdown 31.6%
Jim Matheson 61.66%
LaVar Christensen 34.43%
Dennis Stowell 65.76%
Emily Hollingshead 28.08%
Bud Bowman 62.91%
Larry Daniel 27.53%
Keep watching and ... Stay tuned.
SECOND ENTRY (8:30 p.m.): Jesse, from Provo, finally got his beer. After a long day with his carpentry business that had a contract for some work in St. George, the man at the bar in Chili's on River Road got his Budweiser after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Did he vote? Nope. He was more interested in watching football, basketball and poker on the television sets at the restaurant.
"I'm just not into the voting thing," he said. "But why is it that I can't get a beer on Election Day?"
I had to staff that question with my managing editor on that one. According to Todd Seifert, the know-all of strange and unusual facts in the newsroom, George Washington offered to buy beer for votes and apparently was taken up on the offer. To stop that from occurring again, it's a tradition that still thrives today in Utah and other states to ban beer until after the polls close.
The polls at the Washington County Administration Building on Tabernacle were calm and quiet around 7:30 p.m. The volunteers there said that wasn't how it was most of the day. They told me all seven machines were in use and a long line waiting several times through-out the day. Richard Merrill, a first-time volunteer had began his day at 6 a.m. and planned on staying passed 8 p.m. out of "civic duty." He spoke Spanish and was on-hand to help any one who needed translation. He also cracked a few jokes to entain those waiting.
"What did the daddy Buffalo say to his son on his way to school?"
"What," you ask?
"Bye, son. (Bison, get it?)"
Here's one he came up with just for my account since I reside just north of St. George.
"Why do the sheep in Cedar City give off steel wool?"
I took the bait, "Why?"
"Because they're in Iron County." (I didn't laugh either)
One voter was relieved to be done and going home to relax with the goal of reading the newspaper the next day to learn of the results. Anneka Smith said she'd been educating herself about the candidates from The Spectrum's coverage over the last couple weeks and was glad to finally put her decision to a vote.
I wonder what she would've thought about my last phone call. I called Rep. Steve Urquhart on his cellular to see what he and his wife, Sara, who's running for state school board, were up to during this election night since both were candidates. They were hob-nobbing with the other House legislative candidates in a suite at the Hilton Hotel in Salt Lake City. I found that interesting. I wonder if Smith would, too.
Stay with me folks, there's more to come ... Come back at about 9:30 a.m. I'm on my way to Cedar City.
FIRST ENTRY: Beginning at 8 p.m., I will be blogging about election night from Washington County to Iron County every half hour. I'm not sure how eventful it will be, but I can tell you that my voting experience today sure wasn't.
There were no lines at 9:45 a.m. at Fiddler's Canyon Elementary in Cedar City, and the touch screen voting was fast and easy. I was in and out in less than five minutes. My sole complaint is when I told the volunteer my name, I was not asked for identification to prove it. That bothered me because I could've voted as Jane Schmoe and no one would've batted an eye. I was simply asked for my signature and off I went with another volunteer who demonstrated the process with the electronic voting machine using a blue electronic card. I cast my ballot, the card popped out, I turned it in - done.
I'm curious about how other people's experience was so ... stay tuned and I'll be filling you in.
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