We will wait a few more days before the Nov. 4 ballots are canvassed for Ellsworth County, but with less than two dozen provisional ballots, it’s unlikely any of the races published in today’s paper will change.

In three of our communities, they will welcome a new mayor to the position. These faces are familiar, but are new in this role. We are grateful for those who currently hold this office, and thank them for their service.

While many races are certain, there are a few, such as the USD 112 board seat, that are uncertain. Seats that were open or had more seats than candidates have some interesting ties, which will not be decided until the Nov. 17 canvass. We look forward to those final results, in which every vote matters.

Holyrood has three open seats and only one candidate. Voters contributed a total of 31 write-in votes. This does not include the provisional ballots, which will be considered Nov. 17 during the canvass.

The USD 112 Position 2 is in a similar situation. No candidate ran for the position. Six write-in votes were cast, but several provisional ballots could alter the results.

While we wait for the votes to be finalized, we also look forward at Ellsworth County’s forward momentum.

One avenue for growth will be our courthouse and law enforcement center. Voters approved a special sales tax question which will allow improvements to both facilities.

It’s never easy to guess how a special sales tax question will go. Nobody likes to think about paying more taxes. Yet, with lakes to the north and south of Ellsworth, we do have a very natural flow of visitors to and through the county.

Adding a small increase to our sales tax will help provide necessary improvements to infrastructure. The objective in doing this is to keep local property owners from seeing significant increases in their property taxes.

We applaud voters for this decision. While not an easy one, it is absolutely forward-thinking and we hope will allow the county to benefit from visitors who spend money in Ellsworth County.

Once again, thank you to everyone who tossed their name into the hat and ran for office. Your participation is essential to our democracy. Karen Bonar Publisher