SOUTH KINGSTOWN — After all the absentee ballots were tallied, the local election results remained essentially the same.

Mary S. “Polly” Eddy ranked as the top vote getter in the Town Council race, followed by fellow Democrats William J. Flatley, Kathleen Fogarty and Ella M. Whaley.

Eddy, a homemaker, and Fogarty, a pharmaceutical sales representative, are returning for third terms. Whaley, a North Kingstown teacher, made the shift from School Committee, on which she had served since 1998. Flatley, a relative political newcomer, is a retired captain for the South Kingstown Police Department.

James W. O’Neill, a Democrat who ran as an independent, took the fifth council seat. O’Neill owns the realty firm Coastal Properties.

Local referenda passed as well, including changes to the Town Charter that eliminate the annual Financial Town Meeting. Voters overwhelmingly approved bond issues for open space, improvements to the Neighborhood Guild and road and sidewalk repairs.

They also agreed to borrow $1.6 million for a community gym, but more narrowly. About 51 percent gave the project the nod, compared to 49 percent voting to reject.

Two years ago, voters approved $1.5 million in borrowing for the estimated $4-million gym. Another $850,000 would come from recreation impact fees.

Though a location has not been picked, Town Manager Stephen Alfred says the town is looking at private and municipally owned properties as potential sites and has $750,000 in bonds available to purchase land for public use.