Madison voters overwhelmingly say yes to school levy

Photos: Madison special election

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Staff photo by Gary Stelzer/Damon Lacey prepares to votes inside the Madison Intermediate School Tuesday, Feb 2, 2009 in Madison Township, Butler County, Ohio during the special election for a 6.6-mill school levy that will replace a 2002 levy that will expire at year's end.

Computer glitch temporarily delayed results Tuesday night.

By Marie Rossiter, Staff Writer Updated 6:51 AM Wednesday, February 3, 2010

MADISON TWP. — Madison Local School District voters overwhelmingly approved a five-year continuing levy Tuesday, Feb. 2, by 59 percent to 41 percent.

With all eight precincts reporting and 1,180 ballots counted, 695 people voted for the measure and 485 percent voted against it, according to final, unofficial returns from the Butler County Board of Elections.

“We are excited to see that we have the continued support of the community,” said district spokeswoman A.J. Huff. “We are glad to move on and focus on all the excellent things happening in our district, from academics and sports to our construction. We’re excited about all that’s going on here.”

As absentee and early results showed the levy passing Tuesday night, a problem with the electronic voting system from the Poasttown First Church of God polling place temporarily stalled a final tally for the $1.1 million levy, said Board of Elections Director Betty McGary.

“All districts reported in,” McGary said. “But, we weren’t able to get the votes off these three memory cards.”

Voter turnout overall was almost 22 percent, according to the board of elections. Historically, voter turnout for February special elections tend to be lower, said Tippi Slaughter of the board of elections.

At Madison Intermediate, turnout was “slow to medium,” according to Shirley Cast, presiding judge of the Madison 5 voting precinct.

“It’s not like elections we usually have,” said Cast, who has served as a poll worker since 1981. “I think people didn’t know about the election. There were no signs announcing the election and there hasn’t been a lot of advertising in the newspaper.”

Some of the voters said they came because special elections are not as popular as others.

“I come to every election and the past few have been decided by a small amount of people,” said Gary Webb, a 32-year resident who had three sons graduate from Madison Local Schools. “ When you have millions of voters, one vote may not seem like much. But, when only a small group votes, it seems to mean more.”

Laura Garcia, who had four children attend Madison schools, said she voted to show her support.

“I feel they have done a good job handling their money,” she said. “I want to make sure the schools can keep doing a good job.”

The 6.6-mill renewal levy, which will not raise taxes, costs the owner of a $100,000 home roughly $202 per year, according to the county auditor’s office. The levy was originally passed in 2002.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or mrossiter@coxohio.com.

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