Measure A School Tax Readily Approved by Piedmont Voters
Piedmont’s Election Day was quiet at 6 polling sites as most casting a ballot did so by mail –
Children waved “Vote for Measure A” signs at major intersections to encourage Piedmonters to go to the six polling places that were open from 7am to 8pm on Tuesday, March 5. Less than two hours after the polls closed the Alameda County Registrar of Voters reported the unofficial resulting vote. The 52.79% of registered Piedmont voters participating cast 3414 “Yes” votes (76.50%) and only 1049 “No” (23.50%) votes. In addition, there were nine “under votes”—meaning the voter did not precisely follow the directions for indicating their choice. The majority of votes were mailed in prior to Election Day with only 1,233 voting in person.
The “School Support Tax” approval required a yes vote by two-thirds of those voting on the ballot measure. This was achieved by a significant margin. Campaign workers supporting the measure canvased the City for months installing hundreds of lawn signs. In addition they mailed colorful campaign pamphlets citywide every few weeks.
With the new $2,406 per parcel tax, the Piedmont Unified School District is expecting to meet budgetary demands during State belt tightening. The District has the latitude to increase the tax 2% each year during the eight year term of the tax. The District can also determine whether the entire amount is needed on a year-by-year basis and reduce the amount of the parcel tax, if funding needs change.
The School parcel tax was the only matter on the ballot since there were no county, state or national candidates or ballot measures. This is termed a “standalone” election. The Registrar reports that such elections cost an estimated $10-12 per voter plus the cost of the sample ballot pamphlet and translations.
A required random selection of precincts will occur at 10 am on March 7 in preparation for the manual tally of 1% of the ballots to be conducted at 9am on March 8.
REGISTRATION & TURNOUT
Completed Precincts: 6 of 6
Total Registration 8,471
Vote by Mail Reporting Ballots Cast = 3,239 38.24%
Election Day Reporting Ballots Cast = 1,233 14.56%
Total Ballots Cast = 4,472 52.79%
Over Votes: 0
Under Votes: 9
YES = 3,414 76.50%
NO = 1,049 23.50%
Updated 3/6/13
The random precinct selection is held the day before the manual tally, so they can’t both be March 7.