WITH FEWER BALLOT BOXES, ELECTION OFFICIALS ARE POLLS APART NEW RECRUITS NEEDED AS VOLUNTEERS LEAVE THE SYSTEM.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - Next Tuesday, Tony and Genevieve Marincola will go to the polls, as they have every election day since they moved to Canyon Country nearly 40 years ago.

This time it will be different. They won't just be opening a door into their garage; they'll have to walk down the street and join their neighbors to take part in the democratic process.

For next Tuesday's special recall election, time constraints have caused election officials to consolidate polling places. Instead of 5,000 locations, there will be 1,800, with 47 of them in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Additionally, the county's core group of volunteers is aging and leaving the system, leading to a potential crisis situation. County officials are working on solutions and hope to have them in place by November.

Health concerns have sidelined the 84-year-old Genevieve from working this election, and a consolidation of polling places has taken them out of the running for November's election. She and Tony, 86, can't wait for the March 2004 election, when their small white stucco house with the red trim will once again sport a flag and a line of voting booths.

Both are registered Democrats, even though Genevieve jokes about the years they registered in opposite parties just for spite. Their house has been a familiar polling place since 1965.

``We never vote the party, we vote the person,'' she said. ``But we like to have the polls here. We're doing a favor to the voters.''

She remembers her first election, when she was recruited by a neighbor to help out. She said she showed up to work at 6 a.m. and didn't come home until 2 the next morning because all the votes had to be counted by hand.

``I didn't even know we got paid to do it,'' she recalled. ``We got $20. Now as inspectors, we get $75.''

A few recent elections have been held at nearby Skyblue Mesa school, allowing the county to consolidate some of the voting precincts. The Marincolas go wherever they are needed to help.

``I was teasing them when they had the last election at the school,'' she said. ``I don't mind being an inspector, but I have to go two blocks?''

Their election memories include a woman who came in and asked that a ``Veronica'' listed at her address be taken off the voter roster because that was her dog's name. Genevieve said she didn't ask how the name got there. Multiple party listings also are something she's had to decipher after people reregister to change their party affiliation.

She also remembers the kindness of strangers, such as the four pizzas delivered by a local restaurant around dinnertime last November.

``We had double the people (voting) we'd had throughout the day,'' she said. ``I sent the workers one at a time behind a partition in the garage to have some pizza while it was warm.''

Tony has already sent in his absentee ballot, but Genevieve is holding out for the real experience.

``He was telling me to send it in, but I want to go to the polls,'' she said. ``I know everybody who's working.''

The number of poll workers such as the Marincolas is declining, and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office is looking at new ways to recruit people.

Millie Jones, aide to county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, has contacted business organizations to ask them to join the Corporate Poll Worker Program, a new effort by the registrar to staff the polls.

``The decline in volunteerism has created a crisis in poll-worker recruitment, leaving our electorate in a vulnerable position,'' Jones said. ``Just think about trying to staff 25,000 poll worker (positions) at 5,000 poll locations on a major election day.

``We already have companies such as SBC and Farmers Insurance signed up to partner with the county,'' she said. ``We're encouraging them to loan us a few employees for major elections on Nov. 4 and March 2. We urge them to pay their employees the regular salary for the day; poll workers additionally receive a $55 to $75 stipend from the county and training is provided.''

Similar programs are in place for county employees and students at area high schools and colleges who want to work the polls. Anyone interested in participating in these programs should call toll-free [phone] or visit the county registrar's Web site at www.lavote.net.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Election officials Tony and Genevieve Marincola will sit out next Tuesday's recall vote for health reasons. An aging volunteer base is leading some counties to recruit younger help.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer