Bainbridge Island voters have resoundingly said “no” to a $15 million bond proposal for a new police station-municipal court on land just north of city hall.

Proposition 1 was falling to defeat in the first vote count on Election Night. A total of 74 percent of voters were rejecting Prop. 1, while 25 percent were in favor.

Opposition to Prop. 1 started lining up soon after the Bainbridge city council approved the measure for the ballot earlier this year.

A number of islanders stepped forward to volunteer to write the “vote no” statement against Prop. 1 for the county voters’ guide, and a complaint — later rejected — was filed against the city with the state Public Disclosure Commission that alleged city officials had crossed a legal line by using public resources to advocate in favor of Prop. 1.

Criticism on Prop. 1 has grown even greater over the past month after city officials acknowledged that their preferred location for the new police station was on highly polluted land that faced uncertain clean-up costs.

The measure also had a high bar at the ballot box: Prop. 1 needed 60 percent of the vote to pass.

The first vote tally was 4,006 votes against Prop. 1, and 1,365 for.