Voting and ballot counting appeared to be going smoothly across the Bay Area on an otherwise rainy, overcast Election Day, as voters cast their ballots in the first major election since unproven and false claims of election meddling began dominating the national political conversation.
No issues were reported by election officials in the Bay Area on Tuesday morning. Election officials instead urged residents to either visit one of the hundreds of polling stations available across the region or finish filling out mail ballots and submit them at a drop-off location by 8 p.m. Voters also can still mail in their ballots — so long as their mail is post-marked by Election Day and received by local election officials within a week.
“It’s going well,” said Michael Borja, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. “We have everything set up. It’s been going pretty smooth beside a little flooding in our parking lot. And we hope people continue to come in and continue to vote.”
On local ballots this year are races for governor of California, along with a U.S. Senate seat and myriad state and local political offices.
In Santa Clara County, 292,464 ballots had been submitted and processed by the registrar’s office by the end of the day Monday — equaling a turnout of nearly 28% of the county’s roughly 1 million registered voters, Borja said. That figure is expected to rise to between 55% and 65% by the end of the day, he added. To encourage a greater turnout, the county opened 103 voting centers and established 100 drop-off locations.
The initial turnout was similar in San Mateo County, where nearly 125,000 ballots had been received as of 5 p.m. Monday, according to the county’s website. That accounts for nearly 29% of the county’s roughly 433,000 registered voters.
About 207,000 ballots had been received in Contra Costa County as of Monday night out of the county’s more-than 700,000 registered voters, said Tommy Gong, chief deputy clerk recorder for Contra Costa County. That 29% turnout rate also was expected to grow significantly as people rush to beat the deadline for casting votes.
“It’s just slow and steady,” said Tommy Gong, chief deputy clerk recorder for Contra Costa County. “We’re getting a lot of vote by mail ballots picked up from the post office and from our drop boxes.”
“Certainly the weather doesn’t help,” Gong added. “It might lighten up in the afternoon and voters can vote in the afternoon and after work. So there is still that option.”
In Alameda County, more than 245,000 ballots had been accepted as of Monday, out of more than 940,000 sent to registered voters across the county, according to the California Secretary of State’s website.
More than 133,000 ballots had been accepted by Monday of the roughly 507,000 ballots mailed out to voters in San Francisco County, the secretary of state’s website said.
Despite the fact that midterm elections typically lure fewer voters to ballot boxes, Gong nevertheless urged residents to get out and cast their ballot.
“There might not be anything earth-shattering on the ballot in California and in the area here, but certainly voters want to be cognizant of the contests that are down-ballot,” said Gong, citing the vast array of races for county supervisor and school board seats, along with the broad range of local mayor and city council races. “Those contests are going to have a direct effect on our local communities.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com