Paper ballots likely to mean late nights, slow results

By: JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer | Monday, February 4, 2008 11:28 AM PST ∞

It will be different.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday to help pick their political party's presidential nominee, decide several statewide propositions and, in Wildomar's case, determine if the time has come for cityhood.

Once there, they will find things have changed since ballots were last cast in November.

And the changes likely mean more time in the voting booth and a longer wait before the winners and losers are declared.

Gone now, for the most part, are the touch-screen machines Riverside County voters used to cast their ballots electronically for most of this decade.

In 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen ordered the touch-screen machines used by Riverside and 20 other California counties replaced by paper ballots.

Voters here began using the touch-screen machines on an experimental basis at some polling spots in the late 1990s. Electronic voting was used countywide in the November 2000 General Election when Riverside County became the first in the nation to make the switch to computerized voting.

However, concerns have been raised in recent years over voting security and the possibility of hackers breaking into the touch-screen computers to alter tallies and cast doubt on election results.

Tuesday's will be the first election of any size since Bowen's order went into effect.

"It may be a surprise for some," said Riverside County Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore. "Many voters will be coming to the polls expecting to use the computers."

So how's this work?
On Tuesday, eligible voters will be handed a 9-inch-by-18-inch paper sheet ---- officially an Optec ballot ---- which they will take to one of six voting booths set up at each precinct.

The registration of the individual voter determines the ballot each receives.

Unlike the 2004 primary, the GOP has decided that this time only registered Republicans can vote in their California presidential primary.

If you are an independent voter ---- the official designation in California is "decline to state" ---- you will be allowed to request a ballot for either the Democratic or American Independent party primaries, but not the Republican party.

Independents can also request a nonpartisan ballot, which includes the statewide propositions up for vote but not the candidates in any political party's primary.

Across California, 19.3 percent of voters are registered "decline to state." The figure is slightly lower in Riverside County where 124,221, or 17.3 percent, of the 717, 027 registered voters have chosen not to declare a party.

On the ballot, voters draw a line to connect two half sections of an arrow to cast their vote for a particular candidate or issue. Black ink must be used.

To see a video demonstration of how to properly mark the paper ballot log on to the registrar's Web site at www.election.co.riverside.ca.us.

Once there, click on the "How to Vote by Mail" section in the middle of the page.

Although the video was prepared to show absentee voters how to mark and submit ballots, the section dealing with casting your vote is the same for both the mail-in or the paper ballot used at the polls.

Each voter will also be provided a "secrecy sleeve" along with their ballot.

After marking their choices, voters will put their ballots inside the paper sleeve and walk to the ballot box. There they will slide the ballot from its protective holder into the box.

Voters will then return the "secrecy sleeve" to poll workers for use by others.

Touch-screens are available
A seventh voting booth equipped with one of the familiar touch-screen voting machines will also be available at each polling place, Dunmore said.

In accordance with federal laws on accessibility, each polling place must have a touch-screen machine for voters who are disabled or aren't fluent in English.

However, any voter who prefers to use the touch-screen method can do so by telling poll workers their preference when they first sign in, the registrar said.

"We will not challenge anyone who asks to use the touch-screens," Dunmore said. "We know many people might prefer that method."

Closing time
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. across the county and state.

Once the last votes have been turned in at a precinct, poll workers will reconcile the number of ballots cast that day with the number of voters who signed in at that location.

Then, the number of ballots cast, both paper and electronic, will be posted outside each precinct, Dunmore said.

The ballots from all precincts will be taken to one of 22 relay centers around the county where they will be collected, placed on trucks and driven to a central counting location at the registrar's office in Riverside.

In Southwest County, ballots will be taken to the Murrieta Public Library for collection.

"The first truck from Murrieta will leave the library at 9:15 p.m.," Dunmore said. "A second truck will leave from (the Murrieta library) after all the remaining ballots are brought to that location."

The trip from Murrieta to Riverside takes about 45 minutes. Trucks coming from the far reaches of the county ---- which is about the size of Massachusetts ---- may take considerably longer to reach the counting center.

"In Indio, for example, the sheriff helps us out by taking the ballots from there to the relay station in Indio," Dunmore said. "However, it will still take a while to get the ballots from Indio to Riverside."

The counting is under way
Last week, the registrar's office began counting the absentee ballots they've already received, Dunmore said.

"The law allows us to begin processing absentee ballots on Jan. 25," Dunmore said. " However, nobody is allowed to look at those totals."

Statewide, the percentage of voters in California primary elections using absentee ballots has doubled since 2000. That year 23.38 percent of voters used mail-in ballots. In the 2006 election, the number jumped to 46.90 percent, according to figures from the secretary of state's office.

Dunmore said she expects to be able to report the vote totals from absentee ballots by 8:15 p.m. on election night.

However, it will likely be 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. before her office begins to count the votes cast on Tuesday.

Up all night
Riverside County has purchased six high-speed optical scanners to count the paper ballots, which must be hand-fed into the machines.

"Each machine can take a stack of up to 400 ballots (at a time)," Dunmore said.

How long it will take to count all the ballots is unknown.

"We've been trying to make an assessment of how much time it will take," she said. "But the machines are new and we really don't have any experience with them."

In neighboring San Bernardino County, a recent test run of paper ballots using optical scanners determined about 10,000 votes could be processed each hour.

Officials there have said they expect it to take as long as 17 hours to count an expected 175,000 votes.

Dunmore said her office has been studying the San Bernardino numbers.

"We don't expect to be done counting until about 5 a.m.," she said.

The old and the new
For traditional media, such as newspapers, the late night/early morning counting of paper ballots makes it unlikely final election results will be on your driveway or in the newsstands early the next day.

"Electronic voting led to earlier results being available," said Lauri Lockwood, editor of The Californian. "This is like going back in time."

For most voters, the decisions on Tuesday's ballot involve only the statewide propositions and candidates. However, in Southwest County, Wildomar and Menifee residents will be voting on local issues.

Wildomar residents will be deciding on incorporation and, if approved, the five people to make up the first city council. In Menifee, a school bond is on the ballot.

Final results won't likely be available until well after the newspaper goes to press.

"We'll push our deadlines back like we do for every election," Lockwood said. "But we've already been advised by the registrar's office they'll be counting all night."

Enter the new media.

Results that don't make Wednesday's newspaper will be available on The Californian's Web site ---- www.californian.com.

"We'll be posting updated stories on our Web site on Wednesday," Lockwood said. "That way people won't have to wait until the next day (Thursday) to get the results."

Must see TV
It's likely the kind of late-night television only the most ardent political junkie will tune in.

But it's there if you want to watch.

On election night, you can log on to the registrar's Web site and, beginning about 7:45 p.m., watch live streaming video of the ballots as they are being scanned.

"We want voters to be able to see their votes being counted," Dunmore said. "We also want to assure voters that we're doing the best that we can."

Contact staff writer John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or hunneman@californian.com.

FIND YOUR POLLING SITE

Note sure where to vote? There are several ways to locate your polling place:

Your polling place is indicated on the cover of the sample ballot you should have received from the Registrar of Voters Office.

You can also look up your polling place on the registrar's Web site. Log on to http://tinyurl.com/ywkx7f. Find your city and ZIP code and click. Find your street and click. Find your home address and click. This will take you to your polling place location information.

You can also call the registrar's office at 486-7200.

Residents of Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula can also call City Hall for voting location information.

Lake Elsinore ---- 674-3124

Murrieta ---- 304-2489

Temecula ---- 694-6444

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.