COUNTY READIES FOR FALL VOTING; PART-TIMERS RETAINED TO SET UP ELECTION.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

There has been no rest for Ventura County election workers as they process record numbers of registering voters and prepare the longest ballots ever for a November election.

The county has kept 10 part-time election workers on staff since the June primary to help 12 full-time employees. The need for such seasonal help has increased as more school and special districts join the ballot for November elections in even-numbered years between presidential elections, said Bruce Bradley, the assistant registrar of voters.

``We didn't really get a break this summer,'' Bradley said. ``There will be a long break after November.''

One task for election workers has been verifying voters' signatures on petitions for the record 16 local ballot measures across the county.

With more at stake in the November election, including the gubernatorial vote, some 400,000 residents have registered - eclipsing the 391,000 who signed up in the June primary, Bradley said.

A change in state law more than a decade ago allowed districts to move elections traditionally held in odd-numbered years to the next fall to save on election costs. The county typically pays for about 90 percent of costs in those elections.

The cost savings can be significant. Bradley noted that the Conejo Valley Unified School District spent $85,000 for a special election on a bond measure in April, but will spend only $8,000 for its portion of the November general election.

Ballots have grown as a result. The one for Nov. 3 is expected to be longer than any other, he said.

There are 16 local ballot measures in addition to 10 statewide ballot measures. The names of more than 300 candidates are expected to appear on ballots.

Ventura is the only one of the county's 10 cities where voters don't face council or school board races.

Most areas face school and college board elections, water and park district contests, as well as state Assembly and Senate races, and congressional elections.

In the Conejo Valley, for instance, there are 19 vacant seats for local offices alone. That takes in the Thousand Oaks City Council, the Conejo Valley Unified School District, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council, the Oak Park Unified School District, the Calleguas Municipal Water District and the Ventura County Board of Education, and Community College District. Also appearing on the area's ballots are an open-space protection measure and a Conejo Valley school bond.

In Moorpark, there are three local measures on development restrictions and open space, the mayor's seat, two City Council spots and two school board positions.

``That lends itself to a lot of specific precincts where the ballot type is specific to them,'' Bradley said.

The election will feature 180 different ballots with voters divided among about 440 precincts, he noted.

A notable plus to consolidating more elections onto the November ballot is improved turnout. Bradley said voter turnout in the November 1994 election was 63 percent and he expects about the same this fall.

``With those special elections in the odd year, you would be lucky to get 10 to 15 percent turnout,'' he noted.