MOUNT VERNON — High absentee voting, coupled with a heavy turnout for early voting, resulted in 52.22% of voters casting a vote in the Nov. 7 General Election.
That tops August’s special election turnout of 41.57% and nearly reaches the 55.3% turnout for the November 2022 gubernatorial election.
Absentee ballots accounted for 15.51% of the votes.
In county issues on the ballot, the Knox County Career Center levy failed by a margin of 56% to 44% (2,386 votes).
The 1.1-mill, 10-year levy to support children’s services through Knox County Job & Family Services also met defeat. Early voting strongly favored the levy, but with 28 precincts reporting, the margin had slimmed to a narrow 60 in favor.
The measure ultimately was decided by 891 votes, with 48% favoring the measure and 52% opposed.
“Although we are disappointed with the outcome, it will not prevent us from doing everything that we need to do in order to continue to provide safe placements for our most vulnerable children,” Scott Boone, director of KCJFS, said. “We are resilient and will continue to model that quality for the families that we serve on a daily basis.”
County Commissioner Teresa Bemiller agreed.
“The responsibility of Knox County Children’s Services to children in our county does not change with the failure of this ballot issue,” she said. “They must be taken out of unsafe environments and their needs met. Every child deserves that, and the county will have to decide how to meet the shortfalls.”
“I am discouraged that the voters, who recently passed increases for the parks, health department, and other entities, were not able to support unique children who require special attention from outside of their home,” County Commissioner Bill Pursel said. “Our kids are valuable and we want to be able to provide a positive future for all of our children. However, the failure of this levy puts handcuffs on the Knox County children who struggle the most.”
Gas and electric aggregation
For the second time, gas and electric aggregation in the unincorporated areas of the county did not fare well with voters. Voters rejected both issues by large margins.
Gas aggregation failed 60% to 40% (2,769 votes). Electric aggregation failed by a greater margin, 62% to 38% (3,113 votes).
“I am thankful that the commissioners were able to take advantage of the aggregate rules to allow the township residents to voice their opinion,” Commissioner Pursel said. “Naturally, I’m disappointed that this did not pass. I cannot think of any logical reason why people would say ‘No.’ Who doesn’t want to put more bang into their wallet? However, the folks have made their choice, and that is their right.”
“The commissioners have put these issues on the ballot twice to give the citizens in the unincorporated areas of Knox County the opportunity to choose whether they want group buying power through electric and gas aggregation,” Commissioner Bemiller said. “The voters have spoken, and I think we need to move on from this issue.”
Commissioner Thom Collier agreed.
“I understand people have a healthy distrust of government in general, but there wasn’t a downside to this to our citizens,” he said. “But it was soundly defeated, and I think it will be a dead issue.”
Unofficial results
All results are unofficial pending certification.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked by today to be counted. James Blazer, director of the Knox County Board of Elections, said the BOE must receive the ballots by Monday, Nov. 13.
Provisional ballots also must be received by Monday. The BOE board will conduct a random audit of votes on Nov. 29.
Our Knox Pages team will have more detailed coverage of local school board races and issues later tonight and tomorrow.
