Three Ellsworth County communities elected a new mayor in the Nov. 4 election, while a seat on the Central Plains USD 112 Board of Education is still undecided. Residents across the county also approved a countywide sales tax.

In all, 1,175 ballots were cast in the election, which Ellsworth County Election Officer Shelly Vopat said is 31 percent of registered voters.

Vopat said no candidates filed to run for the USD 112 Position 2. As of election night, six write-in votes were submitted.

“As of now, Nathan Pasek and Cherilee Ward are tied, but I have two Wilson provisional (ballots),” Vopat said. “If they are still tied at the canvass, the commissioners decide the tie with something up to chance, such as pulling a name out of the hat. If the person does not take office, it goes back to the school to fill a vacancy as they normally do.”

Ward, who currently occupies the seat, did not seek reelection.

Allison (Koch) Gonzalez was reelected in an unopposed race for Position 4 on the USD 112 board.

County commissioners will canvass the ballots Nov. 17, and results will be finalized at that time.

In addition to a tied race for USD 112, Vopat said the write-in races for Holyrood City Council and Kanopolis’ unexpired city council term are also close, with several provisional ballots for county commissioners to consider during the Nov. 17 canvass.

While three seats were up for election to the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo USD 327 Board of Education, only one race was contested.

In the USD 327 Position 4 race, Travis Holt claimed 447 votes to the 249 cast for Cheryl Kennedy. The race was for an open seat.

Both Jacob Svaty and Brian Rush were reelected to their seats on the USD 327 BOE in unopposed races.

In mayoral races, Jessica Kootz was elected as mayor of Ellsworth with 352 votes, defeating Russell Allen’s 139 votes.

Jeffery Keith was elected as Wilson mayor with 133 votes, defeating David Criswell who garnered 111 votes.

Tom Wilkinson Jr. earned the Kanopolis mayoral seat with 74 votes, defeating Kevin Jewell, who earned 17 votes.

Unofficial results for other races: Ellsworth City Council (two open seats) Tyler Renard — 375 Steven Bishop — 335 Daniel A. Finnegan — 105 Holyrood City Council (three open seats) Brock Lawrence — 63 Kanopolis City Council (two open seats) Levi Schneider — 85 Theresa Kyler — 60 Kanopolis City Council (unexpired term, two open seats) Tim Bobbett — 78 Lorraine City Council (two open seats) Josh Homolka — 16 Peter Solie — 16 Wilson City Council (two open seats) Cathy Smith — 176 Anthony Demel — 154 Countywide sales tax Yes — 639 No — 468