WASHINGTON CITY – The final results of the Nov. 7 election were canvased and certified by the Washington City Council Tuesday, bringing a tight council race to an official end.
Approximately 100 mail-in ballots were added to the overall voter turnout of 21.5 percent with 2,432 out of Washington City’s 13,330 registered voters participating in the municipal election.
Noting the level of voter turnout, Councilman Troy Belliston asked about the turnout in other parts of the county. St. George had similar numbers with a 20.6 percent turnout while other municipalities were a bit higher.
Washington County Clerk Kim Hafen said Virgin had a voter turnout of 93 percent and Springdale’s turnout was around 60 percent while Leeds and Hildale were in the high 50s.
Each of these communities conducted their elections through mail-in ballots.
“There’s been some discussion about going to a vote-by-mail system,” Belliston said. “I think we may end up reheating some of those discussions because the turnout is so much better.”
This year’s election saw Mayor Ken Neilson win a third term while incumbent council members Garth Nisson and Kurt Ivie were defeated by newcomers Daniel Cluff and Doug Ward.
Read more: Change appears to be in store for Washington City Council
The numbers largely stayed the same in the final tally with Neilson leading challenger Ben Martinsen by 10 percent while the council race remained tight, yet decisive.
“This really was one of those elections where the individual vote made the whole difference,” Ward said.
The final, certified results for the 2017 Washington City municipal election are as follows:
Mayor
- Kenneth F. Neilson – 1,331 votes, 55.4 percent
- Ben L. Martinsen – 1,074 votes, 44.6 percent
City Council – 2 seats
- Daniel Cluff – 1,237 votes, 27.3 percent
Douglas Ward – 1,153 votes, 25.4 percent
Kurt F. Ivie – 1,086 votes, 23.9 percent
Garth E. Nisson – 1,053 votes, 23.2 percent
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.
So remember your poor voter turnout as everything goes to hell Washington County Utah….you asked for it, you had the chance to change and you were too lazy to bother