WEDNESDAY UPDATE:

Funding for an expansion to facilities in a school district in Southeast Nebraska was on the table in a special election last night, and the proposal failed to pass by a margin of fewer than 50 votes. Today, election officials tell us that result will stand.

The Jefferson County clerks told NCN the canvass review board met Wednesday morning to review the election and there were no outstanding provisional votes, meaning these initial election results will stand.

The final official election results can be found here and on the Jefferson County website.

Now that the vote has failed, it's up to the Tri County school district to plan its next steps.

 

JEFFERSON COUNTY - In an extremely close race that was decided by a margin of fewer than 50 votes, initial returns suggest that voters in three counties in Southeast Nebraska have shut down a plan to expand and enhance Tri County Public Schools facilities.

The proposal was for a project costing north of 28 million dollars that would increase capacity, expand parking and improve arts and athletic facilities, among others, for the school system in De Witt, located on the border of Jefferson, Gage and Saline Counties.


Citizens of those three counties participated in a mail-only election over the last month, with officials in Jefferson County - where the school is officially located - processing the results on Tuesday night. Initial results were released shortly before 8 PM Tuesday with 964 ballots returned - a turnout of 60.86 percent of the more than 1,500 registered voters.
And in that turnout, approximately 52 percent of the voters voted against the bond with 48 percent in favor, and the final margin: only 36 votes, 500 to 464.