While the 81,204 votes reported Tuesday night by Maricopa County Elections account for fewer than half of Chandler Unified School District registered voters, preliminary results don’t look good for the CUSD bond on the ballot.
About 4,000 more voters have chosen to reject CUSD’s proposed $487 million bond, with 46.5% voter turnout so far.
There are 38,515 votes to reject it, or 52.7%, and 34,565 votes in favor of passing the bond, or 47.3%.
There are about 180,000 active voters who live within CUSD election and taxation boundaries.
While two of the three CUSD Governing Board candidates among the top three in early vote reporting are declared to be in favor of passing the bond, anti-taxation sentiment has been present in district voter discussions this year.
The board voted 4-1 to place the bond on the ballot. Board member Kurt Rohrs voted against placing it on the ballot, saying it will keep the tax burden high for district property owners.
The $290 million bond put onto a 2019 ballot passed by a 63-37% margin, though only about 46,000 voters participated in that special election.