Elections update
By: North County Times | ∞
SD precinct totals at 100 percent ; 160,000 absentee ballots remain
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters updated their vote tallies with 100 percent of the precincts reporting at 10:21 a.m. Wednesday morning.
There are still 160,000 absentee/provisional ballots still to be counted, according to the Web site.
— NCT, 12:10 a.m.
Menifee school bond slightly ahead with 71 percent of vote counted
A measure to fund new schools in Menifee was just over the 55 percent of the vote required to pass with 71 percent of the vote counted early Wednesday morning.
Fifty-six percent of the voters were in favor of the bond with 38 of the 48 precincts reporting. Measure B requires 55 percent of the vote to pass. The initiative has received 5,785 yes votes compared to 4,512 no votes as of 6:48 a.m. Wednesday morning.
| Measure B - Menifee Union School District |
| 38/48 79.17% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| Bonds Yes | 5,785 | 56.18% |
| Bonds No | 4,512 | 43.82% |
| Total | 10,297 | 100.00% |
-- Californian 8:40 a.m.
Measure C passing comfortably with 91 percent of vote counted
A measure to incorporate Wildomar was set to pass with 91 percent of the vote counted early Wednesday morning, according the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
Better than 60 percent of the vote was in favor of the measure.
The new city's first five-member council was also set with candidate Bob Cashman leading the vote-getting. Candidates Sheryl L. Ade (1,149 votes) and Timothy Lee Underdown (1,087) were in a tight race for the final seat.
| Measure C - Proposed Incorporation Wildomar |
| 22/24 91.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| Yes | 2,498 | 60.24% |
| No | 1,649 | 39.76% |
| Total | 4,147 | 100.00% |
| Measure D - Future Wildomar Elections |
| 22/24 91.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| By District | 2,217 | 57.12% |
| At Large | 1,664 | 42.88% |
| Total | 3,881 | 100.00% |
| Member, City Council Proposed City of Wildomar |
| 22/24 91.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| BOB CASHMAN | 1,727 | 12.37% |
| BRIDGETTE MOORE | 1,559 | 11.17% |
| MARSHA SWANSON | 1,414 | 10.13% |
| SCOTT A. FARNAM | 1,239 | 8.88% |
| SHERYL L. ADE | 1,149 | 8.23% |
| TIMOTHY LEE UNDERDOWN | 1,087 | 7.79% |
| HARV DYKSTRA | 991 | 7.10% |
| MARTHA L. BRIDGES | 869 | 6.23% |
| PAUL WILLIAMS | 867 | 6.21% |
| DARRELL RUFF | 789 | 5.65% |
| GARY ALAN ANDRE | 668 | 4.79% |
| ROGER LE CLERC | 558 | 4.00% |
| MICHAEL E. TIERNEY | 553 | 3.96% |
| STEVE BEUTZ | 487 | 3.49% |
| Total | 13,957 | 100.00% |
-- Californian, 8:31 a.m.
Wildomar incorporation measure on way to passing
With two thirds of the precincts reporting, Measure C, a referendum to incorporate Wildomar, is passing with 1,463 yes votes (59 percent) and 1,001 against (41 percent).
If the measure passes, a five-member city council will also be selected based on Tuesday's voting. Candidate Bob Cashman leads that race with 12 percent of the vote (1,037). Bridgette Moore is second with 10.74 percent of the vote. Marsha Swanson, Scott A. Farnam and Sheryl L. Ade round out the top five.
| Measure C - Proposed Incorporation Wildomar |
| 16/24 66.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| Yes | 1,463 | 59.38% |
| No | 1,001 | 40.63% |
| Total | 2,464 | 100.00% |
| Measure D - Future Wildomar Elections |
| 16/24 66.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| By District | 1,320 | 56.85% |
| At Large | 1,002 | 43.15% |
| Total | 2,322 | 100.00% |
| Member, City Council Proposed City of Wildomar |
| 16/24 66.67% |
| Vote Count | Percent | |
| BOB CASHMAN | 1,037 | 12.00% |
| BRIDGETTE MOORE | 928 | 10.74% |
| MARSHA SWANSON | 850 | 9.84% |
| SCOTT A. FARNAM | 759 | 8.78% |
| SHERYL L. ADE | 741 | 8.58% |
| HARV DYKSTRA | 624 | 7.22% |
| TIMOTHY LEE UNDERDOWN | 621 | 7.19% |
| MARTHA L. BRIDGES | 566 | 6.55% |
| PAUL WILLIAMS | 560 | 6.48% |
| DARRELL RUFF | 517 | 5.98% |
| GARY ALAN ANDRE | 410 | 4.75% |
| ROGER LE CLERC | 357 | 4.13% |
| MICHAEL E. TIERNEY | 355 | 4.11% |
| STEVE BEUTZ | 315 | 3.65% |
| Total | 8,640 | 100.00% |
-- Californian, 2:08 a.m.
Early returns have Wildomar measure passing
With half of the precincts totaled, Measure C that would incorporation Wildomar, is passing with 929 yes votes (59 percent) and 645 against (41 percent).
If the measure passes, a five-member city council will also be selected based on Tuesday's voting. Candidate Bob Cashman leads that race with 11.37 percent of the vote (641). Bridgette Moore is second with 10.45 percent of the vote (589). Marsha Swanson, Scott A. Farnam and Sheryl L. Ade round out the top five in the early returns.
Measure C - Proposed Incorporation Wildomar
12/24 50.00%
Vote Count Percent
Yes 929 59.02%
No 645 40.98%
Total 1,574 100.00%
Measure D - Future Wildomar Elections
12/24 50.00%
Vote Count Percent
By District 894 60.04%
At Large 595 39.96%
Total 1,489 100.00%
Member, City Council Proposed City of Wildomar
12/24 50.00%
Vote Count Percent
BOB CASHMAN 641 11.37%
BRIDGETTE MOORE 589 10.45%
MARSHA SWANSON 568 10.07%
SCOTT A. FARNAM 517 9.17%
SHERYL L. ADE 501 8.88%
HARV DYKSTRA 421 7.47%
PAUL WILLIAMS 375 6.65%
MARTHA L. BRIDGES 374 6.63%
DARRELL RUFF 356 6.31%
TIMOTHY LEE UNDERDOWN 356 6.31%
GARY ALAN ANDRE 273 4.84%
MICHAEL E. TIERNEY 235 4.17%
ROGER LE CLERC 222 3.94%
STEVE BEUTZ 211 3.74%
Total 5,639 100.00%
— Californian, 9:01 p.m.
GOP: Exit polls have McCain winning California
SAN DIEGO ---- U.S. Sen. John McCain was ahead of rival Mitt Romney in the California Republican primary in exit polls conducted Tuesday by the state GOP party, a spokesman said Tuesday evening.
Hector Barajas, a spokesman for the California Republican Party, said at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego that exit polls showed the Arizona senator with 40 percent of the vote, compared to the former Massachusetts governor's 35 percent. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was a distant third with 12 percent, Barajas said.
---- NCT, 8:01 p.m.
Registrar: Voting smooth, except for bumps
San Diego County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler said Tuesday evening that voting was running smoothly at the polls although there were scattered problems.
Two college precincts at UC San Diego and San Diego State University, she said, came “dangerously close” to running out of Democratic ballots before elections workers trucked more out to them.
In addition, several voters called to complain that they were barred from voting for Republican candidates. County officials said those complaints were caused by voters being registered as independents or with no party affiliation and wanting to vote Republican ---- and the Republican party closing its primaries to independent voters.
Seiler said the ballot-shortage problem arose when too many voters wanted to cast provisional ballots ---- special ballots given to voters who show up at the wrong precinct.
Seiler said many of the voters were urged by political campaigns to “just go and vote” even if they did not go to their assigned polling places.
“In some cases we had reports of 100 percent of the people in line were voting provisionally,” she said.
“But we did the best we could, and to the best of my knowledge we didn’t turn anybody away," Seiler said.
-- NCT, 8:00 p.m.
'Light to Moderate' Turnout Reported in SD County
SAN DIEGO ---- Voter turnout around San Diego County in today's presidential primary has been "light to moderate," the Registrar of Voters said, although the Democratic race has heightened interest.
In past presidential primaries, between 44 percent and 53 percent of eligible voters countywide cast ballots. Turnout this time could be on the "higher side of that range," because of the interest generated by a woman and black man vying for the Democratic nomination, Registrar Deborah Seiler said.
Students at UC San Diego turned out in large numbers at the polling place at the La Jolla campus to vote with provisional ballots because they're either not registered in the county or that particular precinct, Seiler said.
It's a typical problem for that location, and her office has sent help there, she said.
No other major voting problems have been reported, she said.
Getting results once the polls close at 8 tonight may take longer, because of the limited use of electronic voting machines and changes to recount procedures.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified the use of most electronic voting machines in California last year.
Local election officials will manually scan ballots as they come in from the 1,801 polling places countywide, according to Seiler.
"There are going to be several hundred thousand ballots that we are going to have to hand-count here in our office," Seiler said.
One touch-screen voting machine will be located at each polling site for voters with disabilities that prevent them from using paper ballots, she said.
Results from the county's about 250,000 absentee votes will be released once the polls close at 8 p.m., but counts from the remaining ballots will "take some time," she said.
---- City News Service, 6:50 p.m.
Absentee votes to be released after 8
San Diego County elections officials said they expected to release the results of roughly 250,000 absentee ballots just after polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Spokesman Mike Workman said the county had mailed out nearly 500,000 absentee ballots and that the 250,000 were those that had been mailed back and tallied, but not totaled, before Tuesday.
— NCT, 6:23 p.m.
Independent voters vent about GOP policy
San Diego County spokesman Mike Workman said Tuesday evening that elections workers had received a number of complaints from voters who were registered as not belonging to a party, but who wanted to vote in the Republican primary race.
California’s Republican party, unlike the Democratic Party, chose not to let independent voters vote in the Republican primary if they wanted.
Workman said several voters complained that they had voted as Republicans in past primaries and should have been listed as Republicans, not as “no party” voters.
Election officials, however, said that the Republican party had allowed independent voters to cross over in previous elections, and that the voters had registered either with another political party or as “decline to state.”
— NCT, 6:21 p.m.
Hundreds wait to vote at Registrar's office
Just after
Phyllis Brown, reading a book while she waited, said she chose to vote at the Registrar’s office because she had just gotten off work and did not have time to go home to vote in
“What time is it?” Brown asked when queried about how long she’d been waiting. “It’s been about an hour.”
Next to Brown stood Nick James, his wife LuAnn and daughter Julia.
LuAnn James said her daughter had an eye exam in
“Not going into traffic,” LuAnn James said. “Vote here and go to dinner."
Still, Nick James said he didn’t plan to vote this way again.
“I don’t like lines,” he said.
---- Gig Conaughton, 5:54 p.m.
GOP set to 'bash' Dems at S.D. bash
SAN DIEGO ---- As California Republican Party officials set up their statewide election night headquarters this afternoon at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego, they also were planning the strategy to take shots at Democrats.
Party workers and volunteers took part in a telephone conference call at 2 p.m. in a room set up for the media. As they discussed their lineup of speakers and media interviews, they also discussed salvos that would be aimed at Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
At one point during the call that a volunteer broadcast on his speaker phone, a party official said that state GOP Chairman Ron Nehring would arrive later this afternoon and be available for television interviews and do "some Hillary and Obama bashing." Nehring is the former chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party.
More than 700 people are expected at the hotel to view election results, hear from state and local Republican lawmakers and from presidential campaign representatives. Among the North County Republican politicians slated to be on hand was state Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad.
More than 90 print and broadcast reporters and crews from around the state and nation are registered to cover the event.
---- Mark Walker
S.D. GOP watching Fox
SAN DIEGO ---- Republicans generally consider Fox News to be more friendly to their point of view than other news networks. And that's the station the TV screens at the Westgate Hotel, where the party has set up its statewide election night headquarters, were set to as Super Tuesday returns started rolling in.
---- Mark Walker
Issa backing McCain
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced Friday that he has endorsed U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona for the Republican presidential nomination.
"At a time when our nation is engaged in a global struggle against the forces of terrorism and extremism, America needs John McCain's courage and leadership," Issa said in a prepared statement. "When I look John McCain in the eye, I see a man I trust to lead our country."
Issa also cited McCain's opposition to congressional earmarks ---- pet projects that lawmakers insert into spending bills without a vote ---- as well as his strong support for the military.
"As commander in chief, (he) will provide the leadership in Iraq necessary for the United States to prevail."
---- Mark Walker
McCain's son completing Iraq deployment
The youngest son of U.S. Sen. John McCain is nearing the end of a deployment to Iraq where he is serving with Camp Pendleton's 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Lance Cpl. James "Jimmy" McCain, 19, is a rifleman and has been in Iraq with his unit for the last several months.
The Marine's father is leading the Republican presidential race heading into next week's 22-state Super Tuesday primaries.
John McCain rarely mention his son's service and has not invoked it on the campaign trail. His older son, Jack, is currently a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy.
---- Mark Walker
Registrar: Expect slow vote-counting
San Diego County elections officials said Thursday that they had received back only about half of the roughly 400,000 absentee ballots requested by voters.
County Registrar Deborah Seiler said that it appeared that the uncertainty about which presidential candidates would still be in the races when Super Tuesday arrived caused many voters to wait to cast their absentee votes. Now that the field has narrowed, Seiler said she expected the pace to pick up.
Elections workers often have the chance to count absentee ballots before the polls close on voting day. County officials said the slow pace of returning absentee ballots threatens to lengthen what they expect to be a long counting process.
County officials have predicted it could take longer to count votes this year because of several elections changes.
In August, the state barred San Diego and several other counties from using their electronic voting machines, except for disabled voters. Also, paper ballots will no longer be counted as they're cast at precincts by optical scanning machines. Instead, several hundred thousands of uncounted paper ballots will be driven to the County Registrar's office after the polls close at 8 p.m. before counting can begin.
Finally, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has directed counties to do hand recounts of 10 percent of precincts in races that are close at the end of voting.
County spokesman Mike Workman said that the updated vote counts that used to be released to the public around 11 p.m. on election night may take until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m.
---- Gig Conaughton
Bilbray endorses Romney
North County U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray announced this morning that he is backing Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Tuesday's presidential election primary.
Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said in a prepared statement that Romney's vow to strengthen immigration laws and his "proven executive leadership" while governor of Massachusetts led to his endorsement. "He can strengthen our economy because he has worked firsthand in the economy," Bilbray said, referring to Romney's work in the private sector before he was elected in Massachusetts.
A strident opponent of legislation that would grant legal status to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, Bilbray also said Romney would "work to strengthen our immigration laws without allowing amnesty to 12 to 20 million immigrants."
Bilbray is the second of San Diego County's five congressional representatives to endorse a candidate. After dropping out of the presidential race last month, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, threw his support to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. The other members of the House from San Diego County ---- Susan Davis, D-San Diego; and Bob Filner, D-San Diego ---- are remaining neutral, according to their spokesmen Wednesday.
---- Mark Walker
More Stories
Advertisement
Roberto1 wrote on Feb 4, 2008 3:21 AM:Is Issa backing McCain a good thing?..I like McCain but would like to see Darell Issa recalled.
Larry wrote on Feb 5, 2008 3:58 PM:If I were voting in the Republican primary, Issa's endorsement of McCain would be enough to make me vote for Romney or someone else.
Oh no wrote on Feb 6, 2008 4:51 AM:The average Wildomar voter will rue the day they decided to incorporate. Higher taxes, increased regulation (over business, private property and personal lives) and special interests will ride roughshod over you. Who do you think funded the measure C campaign? SPECIAL INTERESTS! I'll be laughing the day Wildomar establishes it's own redevelopment agency and begins forcing people out of their homes and small businesses to make way for big box businesses and condos. You made a mistake, Wildomar: a BIG mistake!
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.
Submit Comment[-]
Today's Stories
Advertisement