A recount of the ballots for a $3.5 million Houston School District bond issue that narrowly was defeated showed the same result Tuesday morning: It failed.
The count remained 636-479.
The Houston board of education is expected to decide soon whether to place the issue back on the ballot as soon as August.
Four persons – Betty S. Crow, Phyllis Caton, Bonnie Skelton and Jackie Keaton – certified the same count.
The Houston board of education sought a recount of ballots, and Circuit Judge Mary Sheffield signed an order allowing it to occur.
The April 8 count was 636-479. A four-sevenths majority – 57.14 percent – was required for passage. It received 57.04 percent. How close was it? If two persons who voted “no” marked their ballot “yes,” it would have passed. Additionally, it would have passed if three more traveled to the polls and voted “yes.”
According to the Houston Herald digital archives, it was first recount since 1996, when a review showed the same result generated during the General Election. That count brought Lois England into the county public administrator’s office.