Power of the people
Record numbers registered for today’s midterm elections
The question of the day is: How many of you will vote and why?
If the hype is true, then today’s midterm elections could draw out record numbers of voters in California.
Already records have been set for the number of registered eligible voters in the state at nearly 19.7 million. Some 25.2 million voters were eligible to register before the Oct. 22 cutoff date, and 78.16 percent of you did, according to data from Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s office.
In Imperial County, 69,728 of 101,197 — 68.9 percent — of eligible voters registered ahead of Oct. 22.
Pete Guzman and his son, Jared, already voted by mail when they spoke to a reporter Monday. For Pete, it was the state propositions that interested him most about today’s election, and for Jared … well, it’s because his dad was voting.
If one issue got Pete Guzman itching to cast his ballot over any other it was Proposition 6, the gas tax repeal. “It irritated me that [Gov. Jerry] Brown said we were whiners because we didn’t want it,” he said. As you might have guessed, Guzman voted to repeal the gas tax.
For Ethan Mahler, 28, and his wife, Lauren, 27, both of El Centro, they seem most interested in the state propositions as well. Ethan is still on the fence about whether he’ll even vote today. But Lauren said she’ll be there. Lauren is interested in casting her vote for Proposition 12, which if passed would expand the size of breeding cages for pigs, calves and hens.
Ethan, on the other hand, is feeling a little disenfranchised and jaded about the elections process: “It’s hard not to feel that way with the way the current [presidential] elections have gone.”
It’s presidential politics that specifically have brought out a couple of voters who asked not to have their last names used in this article.
Scott, 51, of San Diego, who voted by mail, said he voted for the first time in his life. He said it was about President Donald Trump. “I voted for all Democrats, because [Trump] makes me sick to my stomach.”
For what seems to be for the opposite reasons, Richard E., 57, of El Centro will head to the polls today. “What’s got me fired up to vote is we don’t have the respect we used to have years ago. … A certain party is not respecting the other party’s views; lots of lies out there on immigration issues, and taxes.”
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. As long as you are in line when the polls close, your vote will be counted. The first tally report on vote-by-mail ballots is due on the Imperial County Elections Department website by 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Padilla said, “It is nearly unprecedented for California to set a voter registration record in a midterm election.
“It has been nearly 70 years since we’ve seen a higher percentage of eligible citizens registered to vote for a midterm election. Registering to vote is just the first step in doing your civic duty — if you’re one of the over 19.6 million registered voters in California, make sure you cast your ballot by Election Day,” he said in a press statement.
The tally is likely buoyed by California’s new automatic voter registration program, known “motor voter” because it registers eligible people who visit the Department of Motor Vehicles unless they opt out.
It took effect in April, with more than 3 million people registering or updating their registration through the program by the start of last month, according to the DMV.
More than 1.8 million more California residents are registered to vote heading into Election Day than were registered ahead of the 2014 midterm.
Democrats and no-party-preference make up a larger part of the electorate both in numbers and as a percentage than in 2014. Republicans are a smaller share, numerically and as a percentage, making up less than a quarter of registered voters.
More than 3 million people have already voted ahead of Election Day, according to the non-partisan firm Political Data Inc.
As of Oct. 30, the Imperial County Elections Department had already received some 6,000 vote-by-mail ballots that were being prepped to be counted by week’s end. Election officials were unavailable for comment Monday afternoon to update that number.