TDHS vote running out of gas or finishing strong?
Larry Titus of The Dalles drops his ballot this morning, Nov. 6 at the Wasco County Courthouse. Election officials received several hundred more ballots on whether to build a new high school this morning. But a lag in turnout has one wondering if a cascade of votes will be dropped tomorrow, Election Day, Nov. 7.
By Tom Peterson
Voter turnout on whether to build a new high school in The Dalles started lagging behind last week and Election Day is tomorrow, Nov. 7th with a firm deadline of 8 p.m.
If you have a ballot and can vote, do it now and make your voice heard.
It is recommended that ballots be turned in at the Wasco County Courthouse; however, they can still be mailed but must be postmarked on Nov. 7th. Just realize that mail sent locally is taken to Portland to be sorted before it is returned to Wasco County and the election office, thus slowing the process.
The proposed 30-year, $140-million school bond would provide the funds to replace the 82-year-old high school with a new one on the southeast end of the Wahtonka High School campus.
At the end of Friday, Nov. 3, the Wasco County Elections office had received 4,946 ballots back from our 14,626 eligible voters for a 33.82% participation rate, according to Chrissy Zaugg, Chief Deputy Wasco County Clerk.
At the same time “in the 2022 General Election we were at a 35.93% turnout,” she wrote in an email. That’s two percent higher.
Prior to that, turnouts had been ahead of the turnout in 2022.
This morning, Nov. 6, about some 400 ballots had been returned and Election staff suspects there could be a large turnout on Tuesday, Nov. 7, as many community members have stated they will turn in their votes on election day.
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