Well, it’s official: Obama Springs

By Diane Chiddister

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Yellow Springs voters went overwhelmingly for Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential election last Tuesday, Nov. 4, with Obama receiving 10 votes for every one vote cast for Republican John McCain. Overall, the village cast 2,084 votes for Obama, while 210 voters went for McCain.

However, in Miami Township, McCain gave Obama a run for his considerable money, and the Democrat ended up trumping the Republican by a smaller margin. In the rural township, Obama won with 443 votes, compared to 385 cast for McCain.

Third-party candidates picked up some support in the village, with Ralph Nader winning seven votes in Yellow Springs and five in the township, and Green candidate Cynthia McKinney picking up eight Yellow Springs votes and three in the township.

The Yellow Springs and Miami Township totals were not available for last week’s News due to voters’ unexpectedly high use of paper ballots, due to both a large number of voters who voted early and a higher-than-expected number who chose paper on election day. According to Greene County Board of Election Director Tracy Smith this week, in the county about 21,000 voters cast their ballots early and 13,000 chose paper ballots on election day. Election workers began counting absentee ballots first thing last Tuesday morning, finishing at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Workers at midnight Tuesday then worked straight through the night counting paper ballots cast on election day, finishing the paper ballot count at noon on Wednesday, Smith said.

This year marked the first presidential election in which voters were given the opportunity to vote “no-fault” absentee, according to Smith. In the past, voters could vote absentee only if they met certain requirements. Large numbers of voters took the election board up on this offer to vote early, due to concerns about long lines on election day. This was also the first presidential election in Ohio in which paper ballots were easily and clearly available at polling places, and thousands of people took advantage of the opportunity.

Yellow Springs also included 33 voters who used provisional ballots, which have not yet been added to the count, according to Smith. These were voters who had recently moved and were not yet registered in local precincts, or who did not have required identification. Provisional ballots will be counted beginning around Nov. 17, Smith said.

Shown below is the precinct breakdown for votes cast in Yellow Springs and Miami Township.

Precinct 440 consists of most of the north side of town, and precinct 441 includes the western part of Yellow Springs. Precinct 442 includes much of the central area of the village and downtown, while precinct 443 includes the south end of town.

In Miami Township, Precinct 455 consists of the eastern portion of the township, which includes residences east of Grinnell and Bryan Park Roads. Precinct 456 includes the portion of the township west of Grinnell and Bryan Park Roads and outside Yellow Springs.

Precinct 440: Obama, 617 votes, or 89.2 percent; McCain, 68
Precinct 441: Obama, 429 votes, or 92 percent; McCain, 33
Precinct 442: Obama, 513 votes, or 89.5 percent; McCain, 49
Precinct 443: Obama, 525 votes, or 85.6 percent; McCain, 80
Precinct 455: McCain, 226 votes, or 55.7 percent; Obama, 171
Precinct 456: Obama, 272 votes, or 62 percent; McCain, 159