Voter turnout tops 61 percent

Staff report

The 2022 elections in Hamilton County ended with a calm and quiet conclusion.
Hamilton County Clerk and election commissioner Jill DeMers reported a voter turnout of approximately 61 percent, with 4,154 ballots cast. In total 3,698 of these ballots came on election day, Nov. 8, while 456 voters participated early.
“(The day) went very smoothly and we had a great turnout,” DeMers said. “The poll workers said they were busy all day long and it shows. It’s wonderful.”
Though some typical hiccups like paper jams pushed the evening to run long, DeMers explained, the unofficial totals are in. Additionally, Election Day was graced by good weather, which hasn’t always been the case in the past as Hamilton County has been affected by the likes of ice and other severe conditions.
“We didn’t know if we’re gonna have time for write-ins, but we’re going to start going through those on Thursday, the canvasing board and then finish up hopefully on the 15th,” she concluded. “We do have until Nov. 28th to get it finalized.”
By comparison, 82 percent of registered voters weighed in two years ago in the 2020 General Election. Out of the 5,607 total votes cast that year, 3,727 of those were cast on Election Day and 1,880 were cast by early voters.
Four years ago, in the 2018 mid-term General Election, 62 percent of registered voters in the county voted. And in November 2016, 76 percent of voters participated during a presidential election year.
Several local races were contested in this year’s General Election, with the unofficial results as follows.
In the race for the Dist. 34 seat in the Nebraska Legislature, Loren Lippincott earned 2,576 votes in Hamilton County, while Mike Reimers garnered 1,028. The cumulative vote total across the district was not available at press time.
Similarly, the State Board of Education election in Dist. 5 went to Aurora native Kirk Penner, who earned 2,872 votes in the county, compared to 989 for Helen Raikes. The cumulative vote total across the district was also not available at press time.
In the race for Aurora 4R School Board, Chad Svoboda was the top vote-getter with 1,770, followed by Cyndi Muilenburg with 1,431 and Pat Shaw with 1,420. Challengers falling short in the election were Tessa Stevens with 1,153 votes and Tyler Stark with 990.
In Giltner, three candidates won seats on the Giltner School Board, including Nate Most with 266 votes, Logan Rath with 232 votes and Ross Lyon with 178. Other challengers included Brandon Hunnicutt with 135 votes, Joel Hinrichs with 112 and Jamie Bendorf with 111.
Dan Bartling retained his seat on the Aurora City Council, winning a challenge in Ward 3 from Jacy Henk by a vote of 320 to 144.
The race for three seats on the Phillips Village Board was the closest one of the night. Les Dana was the top vote-getter with 78 votes, followed by Jason Fry with 77. Jim Crawford and Jordan Watson tied with 71 votes, leaving the outcome in question as of press time.