UPDATE — A recount held on Monday showed that the proposed levy seeking $850,000 for Butte High School passed by just three votes after a recount that included some ballots that were initially rejected during the May 7, 2024 election.
The final vote count was 3,794 in favor of the levy and 3,791 against it.
Developing story. Check back for updates.
(first report)
BUTTE — A vote to approve or reject a new tax levy that would generate $850,000 for Butte High School ended in a tie Tuesday evening. Now the fate of this new tax in now in the hands of literally 163 voters.
“Yeah, we had a tie and let’s check this again, because that was very unusual,” said Butte Clerk and Recorder Linda Sajor-Joyce.
The unofficial result of the vote for the 8.46 mill levy was knotted up at 3,782 votes each for those both for and against the levy.
“We checked the numbers again, made sure we had all the ballots accounted for, and then we checked the numbers a third time,” said Sajor-Joyce.
Now, the county will be counting provisional ballots and ballots that were rejected for not being signed properly. There were 163 of these mail ballots that were rejected. Those rejected voters have been contacted and had to go to the Clerk and Recorders office on May 8 with a valid ID in order to have their ballot confirmed to be counted.
The county will count all these confirmed ballots after 3 p.m. on May 13, and, hopefully, break the tie.
The clerk and recorder said this shows that every vote truly does count.
“Voting is important and what you think on a matter, on any level, is important that you weigh in and that you have a chance to,” Sajor-Joyce said.
