8.3. SR 10-05-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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9/21/2015 From the editor: County election results come slowly but surely; push needed to bring timliness in line with neighboring counties to the east I Star News Opinion & Co�l��..unns From the editor: County election results come slowly but surely; push needed to bring timliness in line with neighboring counties to the east Published November 22, 2014 at 7:00 am The folks gathered around the Elk River Area School District's board room table on election night with a glass bowl at the center of it to collect handwritten predictions. They weren't on the success or failure of the school bond and levy referendums, which were approved with flying colors. It wasn't even the race between incumbent Shane Steinbrecher and challenger Larry Farber. The question at play in the board room was what time would the first Sherburne County election result be posted to the Minnesota Secretary of State's website. Sherburne and Wright counties are notorious for being among the last counties in Minnesota to report results to the state, and true to form this year, they were among the last three counties out of 87 to begin reporting their results to the state. School district administrators, some members of the Community for Kids group that sought a "yes" vote and one Elk River Area School Board Member played the famous name game, watched comedians via YouTube videos projected on a wall and grazed on cold pizza while checking intermittently on election results when new vote totals were noticed on smartphones gathered around the table. The lion's share of the results — Elk River's and Otsego's in particular — would not be posted until after midnight, which meant a long night for those that decided to stick it out. By the time the result of the bond and levy were in it was 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 5. So when it finally became time to celebrate, most had gone home. District 728 officials had a lot to celebrate, especially given the broad support it found at the polls for a $5.9 million operating levy and a $98 million bond referendum. With the exception of one Elk River precinct on Question 2, all precincts in four largest communities (Elk River, Rogers, Otsego, Zimmerman) of the district supported both questions. One long-time administrator suggested that hadn't ever happened in his nearly 30 years here in the district. It might not have happened in the 30 years prior to that either http://erstarnews.com/2014/11/22/county-election-results-come-slowly-but-surely- push- needed-to-bring-ti mliness-in-line-with-neighboring-counties-to-the-east/ 1/3