NEVADA CITY, Calif. March 4, 2020 – With 25,667 out of a possible 68,382 ballots counted, none of the local races in Nevada County is decided. Election night results reveal some trends, but “Too close to call” is the leitmotif for Nevada County and California alike.

Nevada County voters appear to have opted for returning their vote by mail ballots on Election Day, with only 37.53% choosing their preferred candidates ahead of time.

Nevada County District 1 Supervisor

Throughout the night, incumbent Heidi Hall has maintained a large lead in ballots cast in her favor. Out of 5,337 votes cast in this race, Hall captured 2,566 – ending election night with 48.08%. Her challengers split the remaining votes in two almost equal shares with Deborah Wilder garnering one vote more than Michael Taylor at this time – 1,386 to 1,385.

327 voters in the district so far returned their ballot with no vote in the contest and 2 voters voted for two instead of one candidate. If Hall reaches the 50% plus one vote threshold during the official canvass, no run-off election will take place in November.

Nevada County’s District 1 encompasses some 15,000 voters, the turnout on election night stands at 37.77%.

Nevada City contest

In Nevada City, where six candidates are vying for three seats, 960 out of 2,218 ballots mailed to voters have been tabulated. At this time, Doug Fleming is the top vote-getter with 505 votes, followed by Daniela Fernandez with 411 votes and Reinette Senum garnered 335 votes. Lorraine Reich, incumbent David “Sparky” Parker and Rick Ewald trail the top three.

61% of voters aged 65 and up compose the majority (555) of ballots tabulated so far, the 50-64 age group has a 40% current turnout, followed by the 35-49 bracket (26%) and the youngest voters, aged 18-34, are trailing in turnout with only 20% – 60 voters – having been tabulated.

Local measures appear to fail

Measure J, Penn Valley’s school bond measure, appears to be the only contest that could be decided. With close to 8,900 voters in the district, 2,132 said No to the bond measure and only 1,647 said yes. 108 voters did not express a preference in the contest. The measure is unlikely to reach the required two-thirds majority.

Measure I, Higgins Fire Protection District’s attempt to reopen one fire station and hire more firefighters and paramedics has garnered a plurality of votes – but not enough, at this time. Some 7,000 voters in the district were asked to vote on the measure. As of last night 1,647 were in favor and 1,213 were opposed. While Yes votes lead with 57.59% reaching the required two-thirds majority will be a very heavy lift.

Statewide turnout and results

Currently, only 5,322,715 out of a possible 20,660,465 have been counted statewide, bringing election night turnout to just 25%. These numbers will increase over the next 30 days during the official canvass. All election officials in California’s 58 counties have until April 3, 2020 to report their final results to the Secretary of State who has to certify the election by April 10. 2020.