RESIDENTS HEAD TO POLLS ON ELECTION DAY
No major issues reported by Tuesday afternoon
Steady rain fell on voters during Election Day in Eureka and people ducked into voting centers. One man dropped his ballot in a puddle outside the Humboldt County Office of Elections on Tuesday morning.
Other than the rain, the first Humboldt County election with Voters Choice Act changes was going smoothly. This year, people could go to whatever voting center they'd like to in the county, and every registered voter was mailed a ballot. Voting by mail in California has shot up since the COVID-19 pandemic and the vast majority of people vote with a mailed ballot in Humboldt County.
Before Election Day even began, about 17,000 ballots had been processed, around 20% of the around 82,000 registered voters in Humboldt County, according to the county office.
Nicole Goldbach, elections manager, said this year, voting centers were shifted based on population, with new centers opened in Fortuna and Arcata. Goldbach said this helped places with longer wait times, and attributed this to work done by Juan Pablo Cervantes, the county's clerk, recorder and registrar of voters.
Some voting centers, of which there are 11 in Humboldt County, had expanded days and hours — although election workers in Eureka said the days before the election were pretty slow.
Katie Coventry, manager of the election annex, said people aren't used to early voting yet and came on Election Day anyway. She said it was busy Tuesday morning with a stream of voters, but no long wait times.
Goldbach said the same is true across the county.
“There's been no long wait times at any of the locations,” she said. Goldbach said in previous elections, they've hit 40% participation and said she was hoping for 100%.
Election workers said the process was mostly going smoothly Tuesday morning — no issues were reported with electioneering or people waiting in long lines to vote in the rain. One hiccup was the voting center at Humboldt County Fairgrounds opened later than 7 a.m. Tuesday, said Goldbach, related to human error. It opened later Tuesday morning.
Election workers also said many are coming into stations with a different ballot from what they wanted. Goldbach said this is typical in primary elections, like those who register under the American Independent Party when they really meant they were an independent voter and want to weigh in on the presidential primary. But people could change their party at voter assistant stations at voting centers, she said.
Donalyn Sjostrand, an election observer at Jefferson Community Center, said this happened to her husband and eventually he had to get another ballot in person.
Voters outside election centers said they came to weigh in on the political process.
Robert Dale said he was watching the presidential election. He said he votes primar
ily for his positions on abortion and the economy, noting he's pro-life and the price of gas deeply impacts him because he's a truck driver.
Lily Cohen said she was voting because it's important to make sure everyone's voice is heard. Her first time voting in Humboldt County, she said she had a hard time getting information for the local judge race because there wasn't much information online.
“I think voting can be hard, but you know, I think it's always important to just try to do it every time. And if you can't decide on something, it's OK,” said Cohen.
Election workers said they were impressed with the checks and balances of the system.
“I can honestly say that any skepticism I had about the process has been washed away,” said J.P. Nicoll, election manager for the Jefferson Community Center. He added it's the election workers' role to bridge the gap between skepticism and transparency, and said voters can watch things in real times at the polls such as spoiled ballots being discarded. Coventry, whose day started at 6 a.m. and will end likely around 10 or 11 p.m., tracks her ballot through a Secretary of State program at: https://www. sos.ca.gov/elections/ballotstatus/wheres-my-ballot.
Sjostrand said as an observer, she makes sure the polls close and open on time, nobody's being disenfranchised, and the systems are working well. She said, so far, she is really impressed.
“Around the country, everything that's happened the last four years or so with elections — it's good to actually be able to see,” said Sjostrand.
Students from St. Bernard's Academy walked through the election process in a tour, visiting a room where Thursday, the county's army of election workers will begin processing Tuesday's ballots. The Elections Transparency Project in Humboldt County also takes scans of ballots and can doublecheck results.
The Times-Standard will have election results in the Thursday edition, as polls close after the print deadline.