Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Early Voting For Solon School Bond Begins July 31

Early voting for the September 9, 2014 Solon Community School District special election will begin Thursday, July 31 at 7:45 a.m. at the Johnson County Auditor’s Office.

Early voting will be available weekdays from 7:45 to 5:30 at the Auditor’s Office, 913 S. Dubuque St. in Iowa City. The office will be closed Monday, September 1 for Labor Day.

There will also be a satellite voting site on Friday, August 29. The Votemobile will be at the Solon vs. Regina football game at Spartan Stadium, Solon High School, from 4 to 9 p.m. Football admission is not required to vote. Thanks to the Johnson County Rural Health and Safety Clinic for use of the Votemobile.

Early voting by mail is also available. Request forms are available on our website jcauditor.com, or contact our office at 319-356-6004 for more information.

Solon Community School District voters will vote on two public measures: a bond issue and a physical plant and equipment levy.

Public Measure B: Bond issue. 60% supermajority required.
Shall the Board of Directors of the Solon Community School District in the Counties of Johnson and Linn, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $25,500,000 to provide funds to construct, build, furnish and equip a new middle school building and improve the site; and to construct, build, furnish and equip additions to the existing high school, including a performing arts center and to remodel, repair, improve, furnish and equip a portion of the existing high school building, and to improve the sites?
Public Measure C: Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. 50% required.
Shall the Board of Directors of the Solon Community School District, in the Counties of Johnson and Linn, State of Iowa, for the purpose of purchasing and improving grounds; constructing schoolhouses or buildings and opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings; purchasing of buildings; purchase, lease or lease-purchase of technology and equipment; paying debts contracted for the erection or construction of schoolhouses or buildings, not including interest on bonds; procuring or acquisition of libraries; repairing, remodeling, reconstructing, improving, or expanding the schoolhouses or buildings and additions to existing schoolhouses; expenditures for energy conservation; renting facilities under Chapter 28E; purchasing transportation equipment for transporting students; lease purchase option agreements for school buildings or equipment; purchasing equipment authorized by law; or for any purpose or purposes now or hereafter authorized by law, be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy annually, a voter-approved physical plant and equipment property tax not to exceed One Dollar Thirty-four Cents ($1.34) per One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the school district commencing with the levy for collection in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, or each year thereafter?

Friday, July 25, 2014

Final Mock Election Results

Through the close of the Johnson County Fair at 8 pm Thursday, 1118 people voted in the Johnson County Auditor’s Mock Election with the following results:

US Senator

Bruce Braley (Democrat) 593 (55%)
Joni Ernst (Republican) 400 (37%)
Doug Butzier (Libertarian) 78 (7%)

Governor

Jack Hatch (Democrat) 528 (49%)
Terry Branstad (Republican) 475 (44%)
Lee Hieb (Libertarian) 77 (7%)

Public Measure: Name for carbonated beverage

Soda 340 (32%)
Coke 74 (7%)
Pop 617 (57%)
Tonic 47 (4%)
The mock election, a fair feature since 1999, lets voters and future voters see and try our real voting equipment. Our poll workers also registered voters.

The turnout of 1118 was the second highest ever, behind the record turnout of 1550 set last year.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Mock Election: One Vote Margin for Governor!



Through 8 pm Wednesday, 944 people had voted in the Johnson County Auditor’s Mock Election with the following results:

US Senator

Bruce Braley (Democrat) 480
Joni Ernst (Republican) 352
Doug Butzier (Libertarian) 67

Governor

Jack Hatch (Democrat) 418
Terry Branstad (Republican) 419
Lee Hieb (Libertarian) 70

Public Measure: Name for carbonated beverage

Soda 293
Coke 63
Pop 513
Tonic 39
The mock election, a fair feature since 1999, lets voters and future voters see and try our real voting equipment. Our poll workers will also be registering voters.

Mock election hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Thursday, July 24 at the Johnson County exhibit in Building B at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Mock Election Numbers: Wednesday



Travis at the fair with Assistant Planning and Zoning Director R.J. Moore and Finance Director Dana Aschenbrenner

UPDATED: As of 3:30 pm Wednesday, 760 people had voted in the Johnson County Auditor’s Mock Election with the following results:

US Senator

Bruce Braley (Democrat) 378
Joni Ernst (Republican) 291
Doug Butzier (Libertarian) 52

Governor

Jack Hatch (Democrat) 331
Terry Branstad (Republican) 345
Lee Hieb (Libertarian) 54

Public Measure: Name for carbonated beverage

Soda 240
Coke 53
Pop 409
Tonic 30

The mock election, a fair feature since 1999, lets voters and future voters see and try our real voting equipment. Our poll workers will also be registering voters.

Mock election hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Thursday, July 24 at the Johnson County exhibit in Building B at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

City Elections To Be Included On November 4 Ballot

Three Johnson County cities – North Liberty, Oxford, and Solon – will have special elections for city offices on the November 4 general election ballot.

Iowa law says that city council appointments last until the next scheduled city election. Because the local option sales tax will appear on the general election ballot, the general election is now considered the next scheduled city election. The Johnson County Attorney and the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office concur in this opinion.

Recent changes in state law will, in the future, postpone similar elections to the next regularly scheduled city election, in November of odd years. However, all of the Johnson County vacancies occurred before the new law took effect on July 1.

The recent vacancy on the Iowa City School Board will not appear on the November 4 ballot. The general election is not considered a school election, and under state law school elections may not be combined with any other elections.

The recent vacancy on the University Heights city council will not appear on the ballot because of the city’s provision for primary elections.

The following offices will appear on the November 4 ballot:

North Liberty
Mayor (3 year term)
Council (3 year term)

Vacancies due to death of mayor Tom Salm and resignation of council member Gerry Kuhl (appointed as mayor).

Oxford
Council (1 year term)
Vacancy due to resignation of council member Gary Wilkinson (elected as mayor in 2013 with two years remaining on council term).

Solon 
Mayor (1 year term)
Council (3 year term)
Vacancies due to resignations of mayor Cami Rasmussen and council member Steve Stange (appointed as mayor).

The filing deadline for all cities is August 27. North Liberty offices require 25 signatures. Oxford and Solon require 10 signatures. City candidates will file with the city clerk (not with the auditor's office).

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Mock Election: First Results

As 11:00am Tuesday, 389 people had voted in the Johnson County Auditor’s Mock Election with the following results:

US Senator

Bruce Braley (Democrat) 190
Joni Ernst (Republican) 148
Doug Butzier (Libertarian) 30

Governor

Jack Hatch (Democrat) 171
Terry Branstad (Republican) 178
Lee Hieb (Libertarian) 23

Public Measure: Name for carbonated beverage

Soda 116
Coke 25
Pop 215
Tonic 18

The mock election, a fair feature since 1999, lets voters and future voters see and try our real voting equipment. Our poll workers will also be registering voters.

Mock election hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Thursday, July 24 at the Johnson County exhibit in Building B at the Fairgrounds.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Mock Election at County Fair



The Johnson County Auditor's mock election ballot at the Johnson County Fair will have a mix of fun and politics this year.

In addition to the hot contests for Governor and U.S. Senator, fair voters will get to choose something cold: the name of their favorite carbonated beverage. Since we’re letting kids vote, we’re limited the choices to non-adult beverages: pop, Coke, soda or tonic.


We don't usually predict results ahead of time, but we've seen polling on the pop-soda-coke issue. We also don't usually release results while the election is still going on, but during the fair we'll report preliminary numbers a few times.

The mock election, a fair feature since 1999, lets voters and future voters see and try our real voting equipment. Our poll workers will also be registering voters.
Mock election hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, July 21-24. We’ll be part of the Johnson County exhibit in Building B at the Fairgrounds. Look for the voting booths, or look for Auditor Travis Weipert in his famous Uncle Sam hat.