Initiative 502 passed with a smoking victory on Bainbridge Island.
Island voters approved the proposal to legalize marijuana for personal use by landslide proportions, according to an analysis of unofficial precinct returns by the Bainbridge Island Review.
Voters in eight precincts out of 22 on Bainbridge approved I-502 with 70 percent or more of the vote.
It was a landslide in every measure of the word. The proposal passed by 35 points or more in 17 precincts out of 22 on the island.
And in Azalea, the precinct where support for legal marijuana was the softest, it was approved with a 65.2 percent “yes” vote. (Azalea is the precinct that straddles Highway 305 just east of downtown Winslow.)
I-502 found its greatest success in the precinct of Blakely, where it garnered 73.9 percent of the vote, according to the Review’s study of precinct returns. Blakely is the precinct between NE Baker Hill Road and NE Pine Way on its northern edge, to Odd Fellows Road and Blakely Harbor to the south.
The initiative also pulled in more than 70 percent of the vote in the precincts of Winslow (71 percent), Blue Heron (71), Crystal Springs (72), Finch (73.4), Eagle Harbor (71), Fort Ward (71) and Liberty (70).
Seven precincts on Bainbridge Island gave I-502 more than 500 votes; the vote also went above 700 votes in favor in the precincts of Blue Heron and Winslow.
By contrast, I-502 received 500 votes or more in only four other precincts out of 206 precincts in Kitsap County; Port Orchard 205, Point No Point, Indianola and Kingston. (In Port Orchard 205, however, I-502 lost with 54 percent, or 675 votes, against the measure.)
While voters across Kitsap County, and Washington state, also approved I-502, it was by a much smaller margin.
Kitsap County voters approved the measure with 55.86 percent of the vote, according to the latest tally by the county’s Elections Division.
Statewide, I-502 was passing with 55.48 percent of the vote in unofficial returns through Wednesday.
So far, a total of 112,022 ballots have been counted for I-502 in the county. Election officials estimate there will be 9,900 ballots left to count before the next tally late Nov. 14.
Though the legal marijuana measure was resoundingly approved by Bainbridge voters, unofficial results also show many voters who cast votes in other races skipped over I-502 while filling out their ballots.
Precinct returns for Bainbridge Island show a total of 357 “undervotes” for I-502. An undervote is when a voter does not make a selection in a particular race.
Precinct returns for all of Kitsap County show a total of 2,064 undervotes for I-502.
The measure found wide support throughout the county.
A total of 165 out of 203 precincts in Kitsap County voted to approve I-502. (County election officials would not release precinct results in three precincts — Powerline, Bremerton 293 and Bremerton 296 — because turnout was so low that releasing results would violate the privacy of the vote.)
On the other side, voters rejected the proposal in 38 precincts in the county. Most were precincts that historically vote Republican.
I-502 was defeated in the precincts of Bremerton 7, Bremerton 56, Ridgeway, Kitsap Lake, Frontier, Olympic View, Brownsville, Old Frontier, Clear Creek, Bucklin, Luoto, Cottonwood, Forest Ridge, Woodmere, Central Valley, Winston, Fairview, Firglade, Cambridge, Barker Creek, Ridgetop, Meadowdale, Seabeck, Morken, Apex, Anderson Creek, Eaglecrest, Tracyton, Fuson, Port Orchard 205, Brasch, Spring Creek, Long Lake, Drive-In, Waterman, Poulsbo 406, Vinland and Bella Vista.
The vote on I-502 was a tie in three precincts; Ridgepoint (306 votes both for and against), Port Orchard 201 (225-225) and Scandia (337-337).
