by Stephanie Croston

    Seward County's voters met the Secretary of State's general election prediction Nov. 7.
     Approximately 53 percent of the registered voters, 6,090 people, went to the polls, matching John Gale's estimate for the state. Since each ballot in Seward County had two pages, that meant the Seward County Clerk's office counted 12,180 ballots.
     "There were no major problems," Sherry Schweitzer, county clerk, said. "Everything seemed to go smooth."
     She and her staff finished tallying the ballots around 11:30 p.m. Nov. 7. More than 50 provisional ballots were cast, which required extra verification. Provisional ballots are used if a voter moved within the county, Schweitzer said.
     A couple of the AutoMark voting machines malfunctioned during the day, but a flick of the on-off switch solved those problems, she said.
     Voters considered a wide variety of issues on the 2006 general election ballot, including the fate of the state's Class I schools and the question of a state spending lid.
     Unofficial results Nov. 8 showed voters choosing to repeal LB126, a bill that forced Class I schools to merge with larger K-12 districts. Seward County voters agreed, with 3,088 voting to repeal the bill and 2,012 voting to keep it.
     Initiative 423, which would have implemented a state spending lid, also failed to pass. Unofficial results showed 400,925 voting against the measure, while 169,433 voted for it. Seward County voters were against the measure, as well, with 4,491 voting against it and 1,314 in favor.
     County voters also went with the state in reelecting Gov. Dave Heineman, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and Sen. Ben Nelson. Nelson defeated challenger Pete Ricketts 3,966-1,928 in the county. Fortenberry received 3,712 votes in Seward County to 2,205 for Maxine Moul, while Heineman easily defeated David Hahn by a 4-1 margin in both the state and county.
     The race for the District 24 unicameral seat was much closer. Curt Friesen carried Seward County 2,833-2,167, but Greg Adams received more votes outside the county and won the seat 6,068-5,853. District 24 includes all of Seward and York counties and part of Polk County. Adams will replace Sen. Elaine Stuhr, who is leaving because of term limits.
     At the local level, three county commissioner seats were up for grabs. In District 1, which encompasses the Milford area, Darrell Miller won the seat over Larry Blecha. He will replace Bill White.
     District 3 will also see a new representative as Scott Stuhr defeated Linda Luebbe. Stuhr will replace Ray Naber as the representative for western part of the county. Voters in District 5 elected a new representative, as well. Mary Koci defeated incumbent Bob Elwell by 24 votes.
     The race for the Seward School Board saw six candidates vying for three spots. Incumbents John Garske and Scott Pekarek were reelected, with newcomer Pam Williams also chosen to be on the board.