ELECTION: More Than 8,800 Votes Counted in Banning School Board Race

Update 11:39 p.m. The Registrar of Voters indicated all precincts were complete, but the results remained billed as "Semi-Final Official Results."

Update 10:59 p.m. Just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, registrar's results showed more than 8,800 votes were counted in the Banning Unified School District board of trustees election.

Banning Teachers Association candidates were leading for all three seats up for grabs on the school board, according to the registrar.

Retired science teacher Larry Ellis was leading the field of seven candidates with 2,180 votes, according to the Riverside County registrar.

Retired school administrator Ray Curtis was in second with 1,978 votes, and child care worker Alejandro Cassadas surged into third place with 1,432 votes, according to the registrar.

Incumbent board member and current president Deborah Dukes, who had led for the third slot on the board between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., was close behind Cassadas with 1,404 votes, according to the registrar.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday and results just before 11 p.m. were incomplete.

Update 10:40 p.m. Updated election results for three seats on the Banning Unified School District board of trustees changed slightly just after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Retired science teacher Larry Ellis was leading the field of seven candidates with 1,854 votes, according to the Riverside County registrar.

Retired school administrator Ray Curtis was in second with 1,707 votes, and incumbent board member and current president Deborah Dukes was in third with 1,239 votes, according to the registrar.

Child care worker Alejandro Cassadas was in fourth place with 1,148 votes, according to the registrar.

Retired teacher David Vanden Heuvel had 738 votes, parent Maxine Israel had 585 votes, and para educator Alfredo Andrade had 310 votes, according to the registrar.

More than 7,500 votes were counted in the Banning school board election, according to incomplete results reported by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

Posted 8:24 p.m. More than 7,000 votes were counted in the Banning Unified School District board of trustees election, according to incomplete results from the Registrar of Voters posted just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Retired science teacher Larry Ellis was leading the field of seven candidates with 1,823 votes, according to the Riverside County registrar.

Retired school administrator Ray Curtis was in second with 1,671 votes, and incumbent board member and current president Deborah Dukes was in third with 1,204 votes, according to the registrar.

Child care worker Alejandro Cassadas was in fourth place with 1,117 votes, according to the registrar.

Retired teacher David Vanden Heuvel had 723 votes, parent Maxine Israel had 572 votes, and para educator Alfredo Andrade had 306 votes, according to the registrar.

The seven candidates were vying for three seats on the five-seat Banning school board.

The total number of registered voters eligible to cast ballots on Tuesday in the Banning school board election was 12,104, according to figures released Monday by the registrar.

The California School Employees Association, the classified school employees union that represents more than 210,000 school support staff in California, endorsed Andrade, Cassadas and Curtis.

The Banning Teachers Association, the union that represents more than 200 teachers in the Banning Unified School District, endorsed Cassadas, Curtis, and Ellis.

Banning Unified School District serves about 5,000 students in a 300-square-mile area, from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the district's web site.

The district includes four elementary schools, two middle schools, one comprehensive high school, and one continuation high school.

Banning Unified is one of the largest employers in the San Gorgonio Pass, with about 450 employees.