Evan Smith: Lots of undervotes in Shoreline, LFP
Monday, November 9, 2009
By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer
A lot of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park voters didn’t vote for city council or school board.
Friday’s vote count showed that Shoreline voters had cast 14,800 ballots and Lake Forest Park voters had cast 3,806, but many of those ballots were blank on the elections for local positions.
None of the races in Shoreline has attracted more than 13,115 votes on the 14,800 ballots cast in Shoreline. That’s in the Ryu-Tracey contest, where the 1,685 undervotes exceeds the 447 votes by which challenger Shari Tracey leads incumbent Councilwoman Ryu. The 2,070 undervotes in the election between Patty Hale and Will Hall exceeds Hall’s 722-vote lead, and the 2,441 undervotes in the Hansen-Roberts race exceeds Roberts’ 2,001-vote lead.
In Lake Forest Park. 3,806 voters cast ballots, but no City Council race had more than the 3,297 who had voted in the Koppenol-Kiest race. which Councilwoman Sandy Koppenol leads by 254 votes over Councilman Alan Kiest, with 509 undervotes. Officials reported 634 undervotes in the Wright-Thomas contest, in which John Wright leads Jean Thomas by 218 votes. Even more people skipped the Lee-French election; the 736 undervotes far exceeds Lee’s 149 vote lead.
School District elections had even more undervotes: 3,888 in the race in which incumbent Debi Ehrlichman leads challenger Corey Murata by 6828, 6,649 in the election in which Board Member David Wilson was unopposed.
Why all these undervotes? I suspect that it’s because a lot of people marked their ballots on Initiative 1033, Referendum 71 and County executive but didn’t feel informed enough to vote on contests at the bottom of the ballot,
Friday’s vote count showed that Shoreline voters had cast 14,800 ballots and Lake Forest Park voters had cast 3,806, but many of those ballots were blank on the elections for local positions.
None of the races in Shoreline has attracted more than 13,115 votes on the 14,800 ballots cast in Shoreline. That’s in the Ryu-Tracey contest, where the 1,685 undervotes exceeds the 447 votes by which challenger Shari Tracey leads incumbent Councilwoman Ryu. The 2,070 undervotes in the election between Patty Hale and Will Hall exceeds Hall’s 722-vote lead, and the 2,441 undervotes in the Hansen-Roberts race exceeds Roberts’ 2,001-vote lead.
In Lake Forest Park. 3,806 voters cast ballots, but no City Council race had more than the 3,297 who had voted in the Koppenol-Kiest race. which Councilwoman Sandy Koppenol leads by 254 votes over Councilman Alan Kiest, with 509 undervotes. Officials reported 634 undervotes in the Wright-Thomas contest, in which John Wright leads Jean Thomas by 218 votes. Even more people skipped the Lee-French election; the 736 undervotes far exceeds Lee’s 149 vote lead.
School District elections had even more undervotes: 3,888 in the race in which incumbent Debi Ehrlichman leads challenger Corey Murata by 6828, 6,649 in the election in which Board Member David Wilson was unopposed.
Why all these undervotes? I suspect that it’s because a lot of people marked their ballots on Initiative 1033, Referendum 71 and County executive but didn’t feel informed enough to vote on contests at the bottom of the ballot,
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