LA GRANDE — Voter turnout for the May special district election was low in Union County — mirroring the trend across much of Oregon.

Only 24.6% of registered Union County voters participated in the election, according to Union County Clerk Lisa Feik. The county is only slightly below the overall state average of 27.3%, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State office.

“Contested races sometimes make a difference,” Feik said. “When there aren’t contested races, sometimes people just don’t turn in their ballots.”

Turnout for registered Democrats in the county was slightly higher than registered Republicans — 38.1% and 30.7%, respectively. Turnout among nonaffiliated voters was particularly low at 10.5%, while other parties had a turnout of 20.9%.

Cove had the highest voter turnout within Union County, with 44.9% of voters from within the city limits and 56.7% from rural areas, according to precinct election participation results.

Cove voters had a $4 million bond levy on the ballot, which would have helped fund the construction of a new elementary school. However, those who voted rejected the bond measure 418-249.

The school district was awarded a grant from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program earlier this year that would have provided a dollar-for-dollar match of the $4 million for the Cove School District bond, if voters had approved it, which would have given the district a total of $8 million for construction.

Property owners would have paid $1.76 per $1,000 of their assessed property value for the bond. This means that the owner of a $100,000 home would have paid $176 in property taxes a year for the bond, which would have been paid off in 15 years.