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County computer delays election write-in results By Buffy Pollock While mistaken deadlines and misunderstandings left Gold Hill and Shady Cove without city council candidates on their ballots in the Sept. 19 special election, computer problems delayed the final results of who won the write-in campaigns. Final results of the Sept. 19 special election: Total number voting in Jackson County: 14,577. Percentage turnout: 36.04 for the 38 precincts; turnout for the Central Point school bond was 54.7. Central Point School District�s $29.8 million bond: YES: 5,323 � 66 percent NO: 2,697 � 33.44 percent Repeal of Central Point�s no-smoking ordinance: NO: 2,639 � 63.26 percent YES: 1,494 � 35.81 percent Annexation of Central Point into Bear Creek Valley Sanitary Authority for sewer service: YES: 3,906 � 93.62 percent NO: 221 � 5.30 percent Annexation of Central Point into Fire District 3: YES: 3,305 � 79.22 percent NO: 814 � 19.51 percent Annexation of BCVA into Central Point: YES: 6,684 � 94.19 percent NO: 352 � 4.96 percent Annexation of Fire District 3 into Central Point: YES: 4,817 � 89.97 percent NO: 469 � 8.76 percent Shady Cove City Council Write-in candidate Allison Curtis, 92 votes Gold Hill City Council Write-in candidate Michael Hicks, 40 votes The failure of software used for tallying and scanning ballots was to blame for incomplete results on the county�s Web site until nearly a week later, according to Donna Connor, Jackson County chief deputy clerk of elections. "We didn�t just have technical difficulties, we had bad technical difficulties," she said. While final results were not immediately available via cyber-space, "results given to the press the night of the election were as accurate as could be, give or take a few votes," explained Connor, who finished tallying results late Monday. The final results of the write-in campaigns were no surprise: Winners for council seats in Shady Cove and Gold Hill were council members who had been appointed earlier in the year. Michael Hicks, of Gold Hill, who was appointed in May to replace Lisa Alexander, won the right to keep his seat by 40 write-in votes. Hicks said his goals are providing consistency to the council and forming another police department. Hicks� name did not appear on the ballot because he was misinformed of his deadline to file. Hicks� seat will be up for re-election in December 2002. Ninety-two Shady Cove voters wrote in the name of Allison Curtis, allowing her to keep the council seat to which she was appointed in July after a boating accident took the life of councilman Wen McCaleb. Curtis, a member of the planning commission and the citizen�s advisory commission, said her name did not appear on the ballot because she was unaware she had to run in the September election. Curtis will still have to run in November to keep her seat because McCaleb�s term was to expire at the end of the year. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA