DEMS' TURNOUT AT POLLS IS LOW.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer The excitement of Tuesday's historic recall campaign drew an estimated 60 percent of registered voters to the polls - far more than turned out for last November's gubernatorial gu·ber·na·to·ri·al adj. Of or relating to a governor. [From Latin gubern election. In Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, an estimated 53 percent of roughly 4.1 million registered voters cast ballots. ``This is real low for Los Angeles County, and that means a lot of Latinos are staying home,'' Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum said. ``I would say that's a lot of base Democrats staying home. That's bad news for Gov. Gray Davis.'' But he said he expected turnout to climb to more than 60 percent by the time all the votes are counted. Tuesday's numbers were similar to the turnout in the November 1998 gubernatorial election, when 60 percent of voters statewide and 53 percent in Los Angeles County went to the polls. By comparison, turnout in the 2000 presidential election totaled 68 percent in the county and 70 percent statewide. Bob Stern, director of the nonpartisan non·par·ti·san adj. Based on, influenced by, affiliated with, or supporting the interests or policies of no single political party: a nonpartisan commission; nonpartisan opinions. Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said the turnout is remarkable for a special election, when turnouts usually range from 30-35 percent. ``It's still going to be higher than last year's election, which was 51 percent,'' Stern said. ``Some people were predicting 70 percent, but I thought that was too high.'' Secretary of State Kevin Shelley Kevin Francis Shelley (born November 16, 1955 in San Francisco, California) is a California politician, who was the 28th California Secretary of State from January 6, 2003, until his resignation on March 4, 2005. did not issue a turnout prediction for the special election, as the office usually does. ``Voter projection in our minds requires a comparable election from which we can draw a comparison, and, in this situation, there was none,'' Secretary of State's Office spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh said. Statewide, voters had requested more than 3.2 million absentee One who has left, either temporarily or permanently, his or her domicile or usual place of residence or business. A person beyond the geographical borders of a state who has not authorized an agent to represent him or her in legal proceedings that may be commenced against him or her ballots. As of Tuesday, more than 2.2 million absentee ballots and touch-screen votes had been cast. In Los Angeles County, voters had requested more than 560,000 absentee ballots. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 400,000 absentee ballots had been returned and more than 40,000 votes cast on touch-screen voting machines voting machine, instrument for recording and counting votes. The voting machine itself is generally positioned in a booth, often closed off by a curtain to assure secrecy for the voter. . An avalanche avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosion and often seasonal, are usually classified by their content such of absentee ballots arrived at election offices statewide since the weekend, stretching the ability of election workers to count them. Carbaugh also said voters had cast a large number of provisional ballots A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there is some question in regards to a given voter's eligibility. A provisional ballot would be cast when:
About 1.2 million absentee and provisional ballots, or 10-12 percent of votes cast statewide, will not be counted until well after the election. Of those, about 150,000 to 200,000 will remain to be counted in Los Angeles County after election night. Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985 troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Voters crowd into a polling station on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. in Sherman Oaks during Tuesday's recall election. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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