In an unprecedented bond request, voters overwhelmingly approved Kalispell Public Schools’ elementary and high school district bond issues totaling $54 million.

Projects will address overcrowding with a new elementary school and deferred maintenance and remodeling on existing facilities.

Election judges finished tabulating votes late Tuesday night. The following results are final, but unofficial until canvassed by the school board.

In the elementary district, 4,648 people (64 percent) supported the $25,282,000 million bond issue and 2,550 (35 percent) voted against it. Approximately 77 votes weren’t able to be counted because the secrecy envelopes did not contain an elementary ballot, according to district officials.

Only voters living in Kalispell could vote on the elementary bond issue. About half of the ballots sent to voters in the elementary district were returned.

In the high school district, 8,271 people (58 percent) voted in favor of the $28,766,000 bond issue, while 6,065 (42 percent) people voted against. Approximately 38 votes weren’t able to be counted because the secrecy envelopes did not contain a high school ballot.

About 48 percent of ballots mailed to voters in the high school district were returned.

People who could vote for the high-school district bond issue included Kalispell residents and residents of outlying partner school districts — Kila, Marion, Smith Valley, West Valley, Evergreen, Helena Flats, Somers-Lakeside, Creston, Fair-Mont-Egan, Cayuse Prairie, Deer Park, Olney-Bissell and Pleasant Valley — whose students attend Flathead or Glacier high schools.

Traditionally, the district has broken down voting results by each partner district to see where a bond request was rejected or supported, but it is not a legal requirement. Results by individual partner school districts were not able to be accurately reported on due to some ballots being placed in the wrong district pile by outside election judges.

This does not affect the bottom line of the total votes cast in the high school district bond issue, according to Gwyn Andersen, the director of business services for Kalispell Public Schools. Judges open the sealed ballot envelopes, and count and separate the ballots into “yes” and “no” piles. Two other judges then recount the ballots to ensure the numbers match up.

Once the ballot is removed from its envelope, there is no identifying factor because it is a secret ballot. It’s an added complexity to separate the ballots out before opening them, as ballots are still coming in up to the 8 p.m. deadline as opposed to walk-in elections where people go to specific polling locations and votes can be counted for each separate district, according to Andersen.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.