Voters have approved a measure to renew Cole County's half-cent capital improvement sales tax.
The unofficial final tally issued by the county clerk's office showed 2,722 voters cast a yes ballot while 869 marked no. That's a 75.8 percent margin of victory.
The tax will continued for another five years and would primarily be used for road improvements.
Cole County Clerk Marvin Register had predicted a 9 to 12 percent voter turnout. It turned out that only 7 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Of 51,250 registered voters in the county, only 3,593 cast ballots.
This was the only issue on Tuesday's ballot.
Editor's note: There was a difference of 2 votes between the total number of ballots cast vs. the combined total of the yes and no votes. County Clerk Marvin Register told us that two absentee ballots were returned unmarked. Of course, these preliminary results are unofficial and await certification.
Pick up our newspaper or check our e-Edition for Wednesday, June 8, 2011, for reaction and additional coverage of this issue.