The Provo school bond, which would have allocated approximately $245 million to renovate several schools in Provo School District, will not be enacted according to unofficial election results posted Tuesday night.
Initial results of the general election show that 63% of voters voted no on the bond initiative.
“While not a final count, we recognize that the results are not promising,” Provo City School District said in a written statement to the Daily Herald Tuesday night. “While the bond may not pass, the issues at each of the schools are not going to improve or change without significant work. Assuming the results hold, we will regroup and begin to look at what steps must be taken next to address these issues.”
The unofficial results also revealed Provo’s four newest city council members, though only three were voted on as Bill Fillmore was the only nominee running for District 1.
Assuming the initial results hold, Fillmore will be joined by David Shipley, who beat Janae Moss in the city-wide elections by approximately 12% of votes as of Tuesday night.
Although Moss did not win, she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this year’s city elections.
“I loved getting to know so many people in the city, but by running for city council I got to know more people who are behind the scenes,” Moss said. “I will be a different voter for the rest of my life because of this.”
Shannon Ellsworth and Robin Roberts were the nominees for District 3. Ellsworth won 63% of the votes as of Tuesday night, making her the only woman to win in this year’s city elections.
In District 4, Valerie Paxman lost to Travis Hoban by a margin of almost 13%.
The results also indicate an overall low voter turnout throughout Utah County. Only 68,689 of 264,210 registered voters showed up to the polls, making the voter turnout rate approximately 26%.
The official count will not be finalized until Nov. 19’s official canvass, according to the Daily Herald. However, none of the races are too close to call, so the results will likely stand.
The new council members will join David Harding, George Handley and David Sewell who are currently serving.
