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By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
With both presidential nominations virtually locked up and few burning issues on the ballot, about half of Sonoma County’s voters are expected to sit out Tuesday’s
Joseph Harty, of Santa Rosa, drops off his absentee ballot at the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters in Santa Rosa on Monday, June 4, 2012.
election, officials and observers say.
Voter turnout will be 50 to 53 percent, county elections chief Janice Atkinson predicted Monday, as absentee ballots continued coming in at a below-average rate.
“There aren’t enough compelling issues on the ballot to draw people out,” said Atkinson, who has been involved in county elections for nearly 40 years.
Some local experts put the turnout even lower, in the high 40 percent range, and Atkinson conceded: “They could be right.”
Three supervisorial races, two congressional seats and four state legislative contests are in play, along with just two statewide ballot measures.
With President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney almost certain to meet in November, the primary election’s main event won’t motivate many voters, Atkinson and the experts said.
In 2008, when California held its presidential primary in February, Sonoma County voter turnout was 76 percent.
Participation in the June, 2010, gubernatorial primary was 51 percent.
Atkinson said her forecast was buttressed, in part, by the slow return of absentee ballots, officially known as vote-by-mail ballots.
Of the 163,115 absentee ballots mailed to voters, just 63,894 valid ballots — 39 percent — had been returned on Monday, she said.
The day before the June, 2010, primary election, 45 percent of absentee ballots had been returned.
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the county’s 249,597 registered voters use mail ballots.
Mendocino County reported 11,594 absentee ballots, about 32 percent of those issued, had been returned as of Monday. About 76 percent of Mendocino County’s 47,574 registered voters cast mail ballots.
Lake County reported less than a third of absentee ballots had been cast. About 57 percent of Lake County’s 33,553 registered voters cast mail-in ballots.
In Sonoma County, all of the valid absentee ballots received through Monday will be counted and included in the first results posted at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Atkinson said.
As ballots begin arriving from polling places, starting shortly after 9 p.m., updates will be posted, and all regular ballots should be counted by 1 a.m. Wednesday.
But the outcome of close races will likely remain uncertain, owing to an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 absentee ballots expected to arrive in the mail or be turned in at polling places on Tuesday, Atkinson said.
Those votes will not be counted and no subsequent updates will be posted until the final, official election results are released, three to four weeks after election day, she said.
“We tell the candidates (in close races) to take a vacation,” Atkinson said.
Staff Writer Glenda Anderson contributed to this report.
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Well Skippy-I agree on a federal policy as well. One that will set standards for all states to follow. One that supports ALL CITIZENS right to vote guaranteed by the constitution. Rules that are fair for all.
Actually, this isn’t a Romney idea because as a Republican he supports states’ rights. I have heard this from many Democrats who are appalled at the voting suppression laws going on in the states. Romney has again “borrowed” others’ ideas as his own to get votes.
Thanks for missing the point.
Your reply fails to address voter ID laws and why Democrats oppose them. Airports, Govt Bldgs, cash a check, buy a beer, all OK.
OK, why not ballots?
The answer is as plain as the nose on outraged Pinnochio-Dems. Fraud. Abuse. Cheating.
I look forward to Pres. Romney suggesting to Congress that it be a Federally supported policy.
Rather than Food Stamps, he will pay for your State ID card. You are going to need it to vote so take care of it.
Lots of change coming. Get your hope on.
Skippy’s wrong. When you come in you have to SIGN and put your address on a log. That signature log is compared against your signature when you registered. Just like on legal petitions. Those signature lines match the lines in the register so the voter can be contacted with any questions. It’s the same for absentee ballots. Signatures are compared.
It is a federal offense to fraudulently vote. Don’t do what Skippy says.
The Republicans in Wisconsin were screaming about voter fraud. When research was done they could only find 7 instances of real documented voter fraud.
Fraud is a Republican myth so they can change the rules to keep some people from voting. You aren’t hearing screaming from the progressives about voter fraud right now in Wisconsin. The screaming is because the voters DIDN’T LIKE the idea of a recall and many voted their dislike of that issue. Foolishly so in my mind.
Skippy-volunteer to work the polls and quit whining. You actually get paid.
I had a depressing experience this morning while voting.
When I posed the question “how do you know I am who I say I am?”, the nice poll workers admitted there was no mechanism to do so.
Fabulous!
Remember this in November.
Go to a polling place where your liberal neighbor votes and give his name and address.
They will hand you his ballot, no questions asked.
Fill it out with your preferences and, just like that, you can be a Chicago Democrat!
Seriously though, why would honest people bother to vote when they know Democrats are manufacturing millions of illegal votes every election cycle, and the US Atty Genl supports their actions?
He must, as he brings his goons and their guns down onto any municipality that dares to require valid ID prior to voting.
American elections are being stolen and the Obama administration is doing all it can to aid and abet the thieves.
Last time we had such shenanigans, the people rose up in Revolution.
History has a nasty habit of repeating itself.
And you expected more? People complain about the issues, but do nothing to change the situation by voting.
I believe generally people are frustrated and feel that they are basically wasting their time which could have merit.
Our politicians are so corrupt and many of us thought otherwise with some degree of hope.
Look at the choices.
Progressive change agent:
1)
2)
3)
Who ever thought we’d get to the day where ‘change’ would be restoring our Constitutional Republic?
The low voter turnout has nothing to do with the lack of “compelling issues” on the ballot. It has everything to do with the fact that voting doesn’t matter in CA.
This state is on a crash course with disaster. Yet, with the way districts were drawn, the elections were fixed, evidenced by the same lying thieves being re-elected over and over. As for the Props…Prop 187 passed overwhelmingly, overturned by the courts. Prop 8 passed, overturned by the courts. The people have no voice in CA. The politicians are controlled by the union bribes.
Voter turnout in Sonoma County, the state and federally is pathetic because the system is rigged and the politicians are corrupt, not because of the lack of “issues”. Only someone who has been “involved with elections for the past 40 years” would be so ignorant to the truth, believing that people care about politics.
Some people care about the money stolen from them via taxes. They know their vote won’t change anything given the hundreds of billions wasted by the thieves in Sacramento. Instead of wasting their time voting, they go to work and support their families, while planning their escape from this state. Other people care about the massive handouts and freebies the politicians use to bribe them for votes and control their lives through dependency.
Oh what a Utopia California has become.
Thank you for Voting! The CA State Assembly should be about vision, goals and putting the people of Marin first above parties, money or groups.
If anyone has any questions on the CA State Assembly race contact me at drgunderson@hotmail.com or 707 318 8117. Thank you
I support: Shollenberger Park, pension reform, water rights for agriculture, and single-payer healthcare. My solutions include: certifying Canadian pharmaceutical websites for safety to save our people 50-80% of their medicine costs, have 25% of credit card fees go to our schools, decrease school districts to reduce overhead and require multinational banks to loan a percentage of deposits to local small businesses. I believe in a healthy environment that balances sustainability with job creation and business prosperity.
http://www.DrHChristianGunderson.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FATQ3GBvd1M