Voter turnout at the polls for the May 7 Constitutional Amendment and local election reached an 8-year high in the county by a significant margin after votes were tallied on election day.

A total 1,473 voters voted during this election – a number that is 531 higher than last year’s seven-year record.

This year’s voter turnout puts the number of registered voters who voted at 18.18%.

Five local seats – three city council and two school board – were up for election and had contested races. Of those five, four people retained there seats according to unofficial results provided at the end of election day.

Darren Hodges received the most city council votes (629) by a significant margin and will return for another two-year term. James Warnock retained his seat as a city councilman with 399 votes, finishing third out of six candidates.

RJ Bernal will become a first-time councilman after receiving the secondhighest vote tally with 463 votes. Bernal will take the seat previously held by Pam Pepper Palileo, who received the fifth-highest vote tally (322), on city council.

Freddie Martinez and Sandra Rivera retained their seats on the school board. Rivera won her race by 38 votes and Martinez had one more vote than Felix Rodriguez (54-53).

Only one of the Fort Stockton ISD bond propositions passed during the election. Proposition D passed by 220 votes. The proposition was the lowest dollar amount of the five propositions ($3 million) and will be used for technology devices.

Rejected, pending ballots could change 2 election results

Two unofficial results from the May 7 election have the possibility of changing by the end of the week.

Fort Stockton ISD Bond Proposition A, which currently has 659 votes against and 656 votes for, could change due to 29 mail ballots that were not received by May 7 and 10 mail ballots that are pending because of a corrective action that is required.

The winner of the Fort Stockton ISD School Board Ward 2 race could also change pending on additional ballots received by the end of the week. Freddie Martinez currently has a one vote lead (54-53) over Felix Rodriguez and a nine-vote lead over Valerie Bueno.

Pecos County Deputy Clerk Sophia Franco, who is the county’s election clerk, revealed on May 10 that she had received two additional ballots that were pending because of a corrective action.

For the mail ballots, Franco said the postmark date needed to be May 7 or sooner to be accepted. The ballots then go to Ballot Board on Friday, May 13.

The eight pending corrective action forms have until Friday, May 13 at 5 p.m. to come to the clerk’s office and make good on that part of their ballot. The corrective action forms were sent to the voter if they did not complete their carrier envelope correctly. The action affords the voter more time to correct and make their vote count.

The following is the unofficial election results:

Unofficial

Election Results

City Council - 3 at large seats

• Darren Hodges - 629

• RJ Bernal - 463

• James Warnock - 399

• Isai Rojas - 383

• Pam Pepper Palileo - 322

• Mike Stallard - 154

Fort Stockton ISD School Board – Ward 2

• Alfredo “Freddie” Martinez - 54

• Felix “DJ Flex” Rodriguez - 53

• Valerie Bueno - 45

School Board – Ward 5

• Sandra Rivera - 111

• Gloria C. Ortiz - 73

Fort Stockton ISD Bond

Proposition A

• For - 656

• Against - 659

Proposition B

• For - 575

• Against - 732

Proposition C

• For - 582

• Against - 726

Proposition D

• For - 765

• Against - 545

Proposition E

• For - 632

• Against – 681

City of Fort Stockton Proposition

• For – 726

• Against – 246

Buena Vista ISD Bond

Proposition A

• For - 68

• Against - 31

Proposition B

• For - 67

• Against - 32