Last year, there was a lot of controversy about ballots. This year the Whatcom Conservation District did not count the ballots to allay questions of fairness. The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office was paid to count them. The auditor’s office provided a locked box for the deposit of ballots. The day after the election the election officer and a polling officer brought the sealed ballot boxes to the Courthouse, per the Whatcom County Auditor’s office direction to maintain security of ballots and the ballots were counted at the Courthouse.

As of March 18, 2016, the unofficial results are as follows:          Total

Theresa Sygitowicz …………………………………………………………….650 ……. 53.23%

Roderic Perry ……………………………………………………………………427 ……. 34.97%

Richard “Dick” Yoder ………………………………………………………..144 ……. 11.79%

Counted Ballots ………………………………………………………………1,221

Invalid Ballots ………………………………………………………………………5

Five ballots were contested and not able to be counted at this time.

Three wrote a name in the write-in space but the county elections office determined them to be over-votes. Clarification needs to come from the Washington State Conservation Commission if they are to determined eligible to be included in the count.

One signature and name could not be verified.

One did not sign the attestation statement.