Last night, the initial ballot counts dropped for the Spokane Transit Authority’s Proposition 1, to fund STA Moving Forward. Prop 1 is down around 900 votes out of about 70,000 — 49.4% yes / 50.6% no — with about 8,000 ballots left to count. I don’t have any further insight into the precinct by precinct numbers, but informed locals suggest it’s passing in the city, and losing outside:
53.3% in the City of Spokane. 45.2% elsewhere. If you’re wondering, that doesn’t quite average out to 50%. #STA
— Adam McDaniel (@adamjmcdaniel) April 29, 2015
I’ll update this post as more news comes in. Here’s hoping urban procrastinators come through!
UPDATE 12:45: A nice map from the Spokesman-Review showing the precinct-by-precinct results.
UPDATE 17:55: The SR reports that late ballots did not significantly alter the overall vote difference. The measure is now failing 49.5%-50.5%, and while some ballots remain to be counted, the measure has almost certainly failed at this point.
The bus looks just like the hut in the “Move the Hut” controversy in the Methow Valley.
http://www.movethehut.org/images/image-slider-1.jpg
So it would have to break at least 55/45 yes in the remaining ballots. Not hopeless, but probably a longshot. Shame; it seemed like a pretty smart plan all things considered.
How the freak does transit ever not pass in such a progressive liberal state?
Because outside of the Seattle metropolitan area, it’s very conservative (minus some liberal enclaves). Statewide measures pass because all of the state’s population is in that metropolitan area.
It’s conservative in the sense of libertarian, low-tax, highways; not in the sense of religiously rigid. Spokane County is perhaps like Pierce County: a moderately liberal city surrounded by conservative suburbs.
Spokane has no real traffic issues, and incomes/wealth here are not high enough to support continued tax increases.
Is it small enough that people don’t need a car to get around?
No but it isn’t large enough that traffic is a big deal. It’s one of those nice but not necessary amenities.
Thanks for your excellent coverage of the ballot measure over the past few months. I think it’s been helpful for readers of the STB to learn about the similarities and differences between the Puget Sound region and Spokane.
Thanks, Karl. And thank you for your years of work on Spokane Transit. This result is not what I’d hoped, but the effort to make transit better goes on.
Elections this close are often worth trying again. You can often push them over the line on the second try. You’d want to think about what the hurt the proposal this time and whether it’s a question of better campaigning and/or tweaking the measure.
I really hate putting transit measures on special ballots. What was the reason this couldn’t have gone through in Nov. 14 or wait until Nov. 16?