Update: May 20, 6:57 p.m.
With the latest update from Marion County around 5 p.m. almost all the ballots have been reported. Two of the Salem-Keizer School Board elections appear to be decided, but two remain up in the air. Osvaldo Avila and María Hinojos Pressey, both backed by progressive groups, are expected to carry Zone 1 and Zone 7, respectively. They will be the board’s first Latino and Latina members.
The next update is not expected from Marion County until June 2, when the two week deadline (June 1) for correcting signature issues has passed, the County Clerk’s Office said. Polk County is planning to do the same, the Salem Reporter reported. Marion County says that issues include things such as signatures that do not match or unsigned ballots. Marion County hopes to get correction letters out to those with ballots that were rejected due to signature issues this week.
Not all of the several hundred outstanding ballots will include votes for the school board races, as Salem-Keizer spans only part of both counties. However, there are enough outstanding ballots to make Zone 3 and Zone 5 too close to call and, as a result, will not be settled for weeks.
In the currently undecided Zone 3, only 86 votes separate progressive-backed Ashley Carson Cottingham and conservative-backed Linda Farrington. Carson Cottingham’s lead of 799 has narrowed since the first vote drop at 8 p.m. on election night, however, the race has always been close.
In Zone 5, Karina Guzmán Ortiz, also supported by the progressive groups, leads the conservative Mike Slagle by 279 votes. Trailing far behind with only 7.26% of the vote is the only incumbent who ran for re-election, Jesse Lippold Peone. Both Farrington and Slagle are slightly ahead of their opponents in Polk County vote totals, however, most of the district is in Marion County where Guzmán Ortiz and Carson Cottingham currently lead.
In Zone 1, Avila currently leads his closest opponent, Kari Zohner, by 1,807 votes. In Zone 7, Hinojos Pressey leads the conservative-backed Liam Collins by 1,099 votes.
Today’s Marion County update included most of the 12,230 votes received throughout the day on election day. Earlier totals from the county had included ballots cast through Monday evening, but not election day itself, the Marion County Clerk’s Office told the Clypian. The county spent yesterday signature checking those ballots and today processing and counting them. Polk County posted almost all of their ballots through election day during a late night drop on May 18.
Numbers from the Marion County Clerk’s Office today show that 57,064 people cast a ballot, putting turnout at 26.77%. This is much higher than turnout in the 2019 May election, which was at 19.73% in Marion County. In the 2019 election, current school board members Marty Heyen, Danielle Bethell and Satya Chandragiri won with 14,015, 14,284 and 13,822 votes, in their respective 2-person races. This year’s numbers are thousands of votes higher, indicative of much higher turnout.
The vote totals for the Salem-Keizer School Board are currently as follows. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Zone 1-
Kari Zohner: 17,675
Osvaldo Avila: 19,482
Richard Riggs: 4,244
Ross Swartzendruber: 1,873
Zone 3-
Ashley Carson Cottingham: 21,556
Linda Farrington: 21,470
Zone 5-
Jesse Lippold Peone: 3,140
Karina Guzmán Ortiz: 20,159
Mike Slagle: 19,880
Zone 7-
Liam Collins: 20,865
María Hinojos Pressey: 21,964
Update 12:00 a.m., May 19
Marion and Polk county have both posted numbers for the Salem-Keizer School Board election from their second, and final, drops of the night. Marion’s numbers include none of the ballots they received today, but catch them up through yesterday evening, Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess told the Clypian.
In Marion County, the total number of ballots received thus far is at 56,254, which puts turnout at 26.39%. This count includes all ballots received on today, including the ones in drop boxes at 8 p.m. when polls closed. Burgess says that there are some Marion County ballots that were mailed to other counties, which they will be getting tomorrow, but that total number is not expected to change drastically.
The most recent results report from the county says that the results include the votes of 43,641 voters. This means that of the ballots that Marion County has received in their office, 12,613 have not been processed and counted yet. Most of this difference are the 11,419 ballots the county received today. The results of most of the outstanding ballots can be expected on Thursday afternoon, Burgess told the Clypian. Importantly, Salem-Keizer does not include all of Marion County and, as such, not all these ballots will include votes in the school board races.
In Zone 1, Osvaldo Avila remained in the lead with 45.10% of the current 35,190 total. Kari Zohner trails with 39.81%. Richard Riggs and Ross Swartzendruber are far behind with 10.37% and 4.55% respectively.
In Zone 3, Ashley Carson Cottingham narrowly leads with 50.67% of the current 34,986 total. Linda Farrington holds 49.07%.
Karina Guzmán Ortiz leads both her competitors with 47.31% of the 35,072 total. Mike Slagle holds 45.41% and Jesse Lippold Peone, the only incumbent running for re-election, only has 7.12% of the vote.
Finally, Maria Hinojos Pressey continues to lead Liam Collins, with 51.85% of the 34,807 total votes to his 47.93%.
If the results remain, the progressive candidates will sweep all four seats and the Salem-Keizer School Board will have its first three latino board members.
The vote totals for the Salem-Keizer School Board are currently as follows. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Zone 1-
Kari Zohner: 14,010
Osvaldo Avila: 15,871
Richard Riggs: 3,650
Ross Swartzendruber: 1,602
Zone 3-
Ashley Carson Cottingham: 17,726
Linda Farrington: 17,169
Zone 5-
Jesse Lippold Peone: 2,496
Karina Guzmán Ortiz: 16,591
Mike Slagle: 15,926
Zone 7-
Liam Collins: 16,682
Maria Hinojos Pressey: 18,046
Original Story
Early results have come in for the four Salem-Keizer School Board seats that are up in the election. Each seat involved a highly contentious race with 10,000s of dollars from various partisan interest groups. The district itself spans part of Marion and Polk counties.
Polls for the election closed at 8 p.m. tonight. The first vote count from Marion County includes most ballots received before Election Day. A drop later this night around 10 p.m. is expected to report the ballots through yesterday evening.
At the Marion County Clerk’s Office, volunteers are sorting ballots from this evening’s drop sites. Today’s ballots are expected to be reported on Thursday.
As of 5:00 p.m., 49,938 ballots have been received by Marion County, with turnout at 23.43%, however not all of those ballots have been processed and are included in the totals.
The vote totals for the Salem-Keizer School Board are currently as follows. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Zone 1-
Kari Zohner: 10,698
Osvaldo Avila: 12,437
Richard Riggs: 2,956
Ross Swartzendruber: 1,332
Zone 3-
Ashley Carson Cottingham: 14,018
Linda Farrington: 13,219
Zone 5-
Jesse Lippold Peone: 1,941
Karina Guzmán Ortiz: 13,143
Mike Slagle: 12,255
Zone 7-
Liam Collins: 12,853
Maria Hinojos Pressey: 14,258
If the current results hold the progressive backed candidates will sweep all four seats, with Hinojos Pressey, Guzmán Ortiz and Avila becoming the district’s first Latino board members.
Tonight’s winners will join Satya Chandragiri, Marty Heyen and Danielle Bethell on the board.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
