Two Incumbents, School Bond Defeated; Voter Participation Well Above Average

Heavier than usual voter turnout Tuesday brought four new faces to the Missoula City Council. Two incumbent aldermen, Jerry Ballas and Don Nicholson, were unseated and a $10 million school bond was denied -- the first defeat for local school financing in more than a decade.

Newcomers to the council are Jason Wiener in Ward 1, Pam Walzer in Ward, Lyn Hellegaard in Ward 4, and Renee Mitchell in Ward 5.

Jenda Hemphill, chairwoman of the Missoula County Public Schools board, said school financing may have been defeated because, "It was easier for people to voice their opinion this year."

Defeated City Councilman Jerry Ballas speculated that the mail-in format effectively shortened the amount of time candidates has to campaign.

In all, 23,660 votes were counted, a turnout of 46 percent, according to Missoula County Deputy Clerk and Recorder Debbe Merseal. That's up from an average turnout for non-mayoral elections of 32 percent over the last 15 years, she said. She said about 4,900 ballots were turned in on Election Day, which kept a staff of about 60 people busy certifying and counting.

"It takes a little longer to process mail-in ballots," Merseal said.

Ballots accepted Tuesday included those received in the mail and those dropped off at the Missoula County Courthouse or five polling places around town. About 2,500 ballots were not certified until after the 8 p.m. deadline, Clerk and Recorder Vickie Zeier said.

-By CHRIS D'ANGELO and AMANDA EGGERT