Here’s how Bellingham’s $155 million school bond is doing after the first ballot count

A $155 million bond for the Bellingham School District was on its way to passing Tuesday night, according to a preliminary ballot count.

For the bond to pass, the district needs at least 40 percent of the voter turnout from the November election, or at least 13,243 people, and 60 percent of those voters need to approve the bond.

As of Tuesday night, the measure had 20,321 votes, with more ballots remaining to be counted.

Of those, 69.6 percent of the votes were in favor of the measure, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.

The next ballot count will be released at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The 20-year bond would pay for a wide array of projects that include replacing Alderwood, Sunnyland and Parkview elementary schools; safety, technology and communication upgrades; additional gym space for Shuksan Middle School; and to complete high school fields and Sehome High School.

Property taxes would repay the bond, if approved.

Election results will be certified Feb. 23.

The total vote was corrected at 10:29 a.m. Feb. 14, 2018.

This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Here’s how Bellingham’s $155 million school bond is doing after the first ballot count."