Initial, but Unofficial Results, Show Cobb in Favor of SPLOST

Updated 10:39 p.m.

An initial, but unofficial, count of the votes in the Cobb County SPLOST referendum show the residents in favor of it by a vote of 21,525 to 21,446. But the 79-vote difference raises the question of whether a recount might be in order.

But into the night, Cobb County officials didn’t have answers about recounts of the paper absentee ballots and recanvasses of the electronic votes.

The “current goal is getting an accurate count of the votes cast,” county spokesman Robert Quigley said in an e-mail at 9:50 p.m. “We will focus on the next steps once we complete the task at hand.”

Quigley said the elections board’s attorney should be able to provide answers Wednesday about what happens next.

Cobb County voters on Tuesday cast their ballots in a referendum that would have extended the current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for another four years.

An estimated 10 percent of registered Cobb voters were to have cast ballots in the referendum, which would extend the existing single-penny sales tax for an additional four years, through the end of 2015. The tax would collect $492 million to pay for transportation, facilities, public safety and parks and recreational improvements. 

Marietta Patch will report the final results, including precinct-by-precinct breakdowns, as soon as the votes are reported by the Cobb Board of Elections.

Cobb County SPLOST Referendum Results

Unofficial results from the Cobb County Board of Elections & Registration as of 10:39 p.m.