RECORD VOTER TURNOUT POSSIBLE IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Registrar reported steady crowds, but no long lines on Election Day
More than 100,000 San Diego County residents on Tuesday headed to polling places from Santee and National City to Vista and San Marcos, casting votes in a pandemic-era election — adding to a record number of individuals who had already voted by mail.
Months of electioneering, acrimonious debate and mailboxes crammed almost daily with glossy campaign fliers gave way to a largely uneventful Election Day as voters delivered their verdicts on everything from the U.S. presidency and a new San Diego mayor to statewide propositions dealing with property taxes and rent control.
Given the already unprecedented number of people voting by mail — more than 1.2 million — San Diego County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu was not discounting the possibility of record turnout. He said he expects turnout will exceed 80 percent, which would come close to matching the 81 percent in 2016 or possibly eclipse the record of 84 percent, set in 2008.
The registrar’s office began releasing results shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Because of the huge number of ballots returned prior to Election Day, the tally Tuesday night was much larger than usual, likely accounting for 60 to 70 percent of overall votes cast, Vu said.
One open question is how many mail ballots postmarked by the end of day Tuesday will trickle in to the registrar’s office in the coming days. Legally, any correctly postmarked ballots will be counted up until Nov. 20. The registrar has until Dec. 3 to certify election results.
Despite fears of potential unrest and violence that prompted businesses in San Diego and other cities to board up their windows, the final
day of voting in San Diego went quite seamlessly, said Vu. He noted there were no reports Tuesday of especially long lines.
“It is good. It has been really smooth,” he said.
However, early in the evening, a snafu occurred when the Registrar of Voters inadvertently posted on its website incomplete results of some races, including the Board of Supervisors, San Diego mayor and City Attorney. While there was no explanation for what caused the unintentional posting, the registrar’s office stated on Twitter that the results were viewable for only a short time and they were removed.
By 10:30 a.m., 150 people had already voted at the polling place set up in the gym of Maryland Elemen
tary School in Vista.
Coach and athletic trainer Careth Herron pulled into a spot in the school’s parking lot and was quickly greeted at the door by poll workers wearing face shields over surgical masks. After cleaning her hands with sanitizer, Herron walked to a long line of tables where poll workers sat behind tall plexiglass barriers.
Just a few minutes later, Herron was sliding her sealed ballot into the vote box and was on her way out the door. It was surely the most sanitized election she had ever participated in.
“I thought there would be bigger lines, but it was really simple,” she said.
Further down Highway 78, some small lines were starting to form by
11:30 a.m. at the San Marcos Civic Center.
Ken Dugan managed to squeeze in just before the mini-rush with his five-month-old son, Jett, riding in a carrier on his chest. Bringing along the baby, born during the pandemic, and letting him help push the completed ballot in the box, he said, just felt right.
“I just really wanted him to experience it,” Dugan said.
David Thornley trained for more than 40 hours to work as a site manager for the polling place he staffed in Allied Gardens. He said as many as 15 voters were lined up outside when he opened the doors to the recreation center at 7 a.m.
“It was a short line in the beginning but we cleared that out in 15 minutes or so,” said Thornely, an events manager for a local catering company. He was wearing a white mask and a clear shield over his face to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Tuesday marked the fourth day of in-person visits to neighborhood polling places. For the first time, the county opened up traditional polling sites ahead of Election Day, a move fueled by growing concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus in areas where large groups of people would be gathering. In all, 190,000 county residents voted in person over the four days, with 109,000 showing up on Tuesday, Vu’s office said.
Aside from a little fender bender in the school parking lot in the morning, things went smoothly at Pride Academy in Santee.
Chris Thomas, 59, said he only had to wait 10 minutes to get inside. Thomas, who has been a Santee resident for six years, said COVID-19 health issues were on his mind as he prepared to stand in line.
“I wanted to try to time it so it wouldn’t be super crowded because it’s common sense to avoid crowds,” Thomas said.
Several young voters in Paradise Hills chose to vote in person this year to commemorate their first experience submitting a ballot.
Although 23-year-old voter Asiah James was eligible to vote during the last presidential election, she chose not to vote four years ago because she didn’t think she knew enough about politics to do so. But this year, her passion for social justice issues and protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community prompted her to fill out her ballot under the watchful eye of her 4-yearold son.
“Being a woman of color, I felt like it’s important,” James said.