Ready or not, Tuesday is Election Day in some parts of the state, including in the Bay Area. Yes, really. Just after you recovered from the September recall that saw Gov. Gavin Newsom fighting for his political life.
From Sonoma to San Jose, voters will weigh on everything from city council races to parcel taxes. But don’t worry if you haven’t gotten a ballot in the mail. Only some places are having an election this November and most ballots just contain an item or two. Here’s what to know.
Q: When is the election?
A: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Q: Are voters in every county voting in the election?
A: No. Here is a list of what’s on the ballot in the greater Bay Area:
Alameda County – Emeryville City Council seat
Contra Costa County – nothing
Marin County – Tiburon Town Council seat
Napa County – nothing
San Francisco – nothing
San Mateo County – Measure A: Woodside initiative affecting the code governing use of residential parcels for commercial purposes; Measure B: Menlo Park City School District parcel tax
Santa Clara County – Measure A: Berryessa Union School District parcel tax; Measure B: Los Gatos Union School District parcel tax
Santa Cruz County – Measure A: Would increase percentage of Santa Cruz marijuana tax revenue that funds city’s childhood programs
Solano – Dixon city clerk
Sonoma – Sonoma City Council seat; Occidental Community Services District director; Timber Cove County Water District director; Measure E: Kenwood Fire Protection District Special parcel tax; Measure F: Sonoma Valley Health Care District parcel tax extension
For other counties, see the California Secretary of State’s elections website.
Q: I’m eligible to vote in this election. How do I cast a ballot?
A: Every active, registered voter eligible to vote Nov. 2 should have received a ballot in the mail. You can fill it out and put it back in the mail or take it to a ballot dropbox. But you can also check with your county for polling locations if you prefer to vote in person.
If you do that, Wendy Hudson, the chief deputy registrar of voters in Sonoma County, has a reminder.
“Voters should be aware that if they are wanting to vote at their polling place, they should take the ballot they received in the mail to the polling place to exchange it for a polling place ballot, otherwise they may be issued a provisional ballot,” Hudson said.
Q: I didn’t even know there was an election until now. What is turnout usually like in special elections?
A: Local elections that don’t take place at the same time as voters across the state are choosing a senator or weighing in on a presidential race generally generate less attention and involve less campaigning, which often means turnout is lower. In November 2020, when Joe Biden and Donald Trump battled for the presidency, more than 80% of registered voters turned out. But over the summer, when Democrat Mia Bonta won a special election to fill the District 18 Assembly seat left open when her husband, Rob Bonta, resigned to become the state’s attorney general, just 26.75% of voters cast a ballot.
But, said Darry Sragow, a longtime Democratic strategist in the Golden State, turnout can be “idiosyncratic.”
“Local elections very often turn on location-specific personalities and issues that every once in awhile light a fire under significant chunks of the electorate,” he said. ‘It really depends on what’s on the ballot.”
According to the Washington Post, less than a quarter of U.S. adults vote in typical off-cycle elections — and those voters as a bunch tend to be Whiter and older than when statewide elections are taking place, meaning the people making key local decisions don’t accurately reflect the overall population.
That affects when some political strategists try to put things on the ballot.
“If you want to sneak something through and it appeals to older, White, relatively conservative voters, then an election in one of these odd times works in your favor,” Sragow said.
Q: How does this year’s ballot stack up to other “off” years?
A: According to Ballotpedia, which tracks elections, the Nov. 2 election will decide 19 local ballot measures across California. That’s relatively low. It often seems like California voters are voting on more than a dozen statewide ballot measures in even-numbered election years. In the past, the average number of local ballot measures on the November ballot in odd years since 2009 was 74. Two years ago, there were 45 measures.
Q: Will the recent recall lead to voter fatigue — and low turnout?
A: That remains to be seen.
“That’s a very common concern,” Sragow said, “but I think one of the cures for voter fatigue — and we’ll see if this turns out to be true — is the automatic mailing of a ballot to every voter.”
One thing the recall did do is intensify the task of holding elections for local registrars. Hudson, the Sonoma County registrar, said her county was preparing for this November election at the same time officials were conducting the recall election, which “added a layer of complication for us.”
“It meant that we were recruiting polling places and poll workers, preparing training materials, designing the voter information guides, and ordering ballots for the November election shortly before the September 14 (recall) Election Day,” she said, “and we began mailing ballots for the November election while we were conducting the canvass of the September election.”
In San Mateo County, Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry said it wasn’t difficult to pivot to the November election after the recall.
“In some respects their proximity was a benefit, as some seasonal staff who were already onboarded for the recall have remained on hand during the preparation for Tuesday’s election,” he said, adding that the county is “expecting turnout of around 40% in this contest.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com