GILROY
– Roughly half of California voters spent Election Day
saying
”
‘ousta’ la vista
”
to embattled Gov. Gray Davis so
body-builder-turned-movie-star-turned-politician Arnold
Schwarzenegger could take over the state’s shaky helm.
GILROY – Roughly half of California voters spent Election Day saying ” ‘ousta’ la vista” to embattled Gov. Gray Davis so body-builder-turned-movie-star-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger could take over the state’s shaky helm.
However, if it were up to Santa Clara County voters, Democrat Cruz Bustamante would be running the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fifth-largest economy. The lieutenant governor edged Schwarzenegger 40.5 percent to 38.6 percent based on the countywide vote.
Formal details about how Gilroyans cast their votes Tuesday won’t be available for some time, but what is clear from observations by poll workers is that local voters turned out in larger numbers than usual.
This election – for weeks being called “a joke” by some – and the recall process – thought of as “a circus” by many – were taken seriously Tuesday.
“I’ve never seen lines this long,” said Bruce Morasca, who happens to be a candidate himself in next month’s Gilroy City Council race. “In 28 years (of voting in Gilroy), I don’t think I’ve ever waited this long in line before.”
Morasca stood in a post-rush-hour line at his Sunset Gardens precinct off Wren Avenue Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. He was contemplating how the line of voters two dozen deep and flowing out of the senior living recreation room might impact the City Council election to be held Nov. 4.
“I hope it’s a big turnout like this appears to be, but I am worried. It might just be average,” Morasca said. “It’s good that people turned out for this election, though. We have to prove we’re not a joke to the rest of the nation, and the more people you have voting shows we are taking this seriously.”
In November, a scant 12 percent of eligible voters in the Sunset Gardens precinct turned out for the gubernatorial election that also had a local $69 million school bond on the ballot. At midday Tuesday, already 20 percent had turned out, poll worker Virginia Knowles said.
On the other end of town, the South Valley Middle School precinct had about 50 percent of its voters show up by 7 p.m. Tuesday. Longtime poll worker Esther Robnett said the nearly 500 voters that came to the east side precinct equaled the turnout in November when Gov. Davis was re-elected.
At the El Roble Elementary School precinct, poll worker Connie Rogers said voter participation was roughly double the November turnout. In her five to six years of poll working, Rogers said Tuesday’s turnout “was definitely the heaviest” she had seen.
“At one point we saw 90 voters in one hour,” Rogers said. “We were running them through at about 40 seconds a voter.”
Rogers said one reason for the constant stream of voters throughout the day had to do with the combining of precincts in this election. Last year, El Roble hosted about 600 voters, Rogers said. This year more than 1,300 were designated to cast votes there.
Although this election’s ballot was unique – more than 130 gubernatorial candidates were listed in essentially random order – poll workers did not report any major problems or voter confusion.
“One voter said he was surprised he couldn’t see his own name on the candidates list since it seemed like everyone else was running,” South Valley poll worker Brad Spencer quipped.
Like many voters exiting polls Tuesday, Morasca declined to divulge how he was voting on the recall and gubernatorial election. The Morgan Hill grocery clerk, however, admitted he was going to vote for one of the “alternative” candidates.
Recall proponents Colin and Suzanne Rogers were less reserved.
“We signed the petitions to make the recall happen, so of course we voted for it,” Colin Rogers said.
The Rogers said they had a hard time deciding who to put in Davis’ place. Tom McClintock was their ideal choice, but they worried a vote for the Republican state senator would be a vote for Bustamante.
“You go through all the trouble of recalling someone, it would make no sense in replacing the man with the next in line,” Colin Rogers said.
“We voted for Arnold, but we were torn all day,” Suzanne Rogers said.
Across town it wasn’t difficult to find the Rogers’ antithesis.
“I was going to vote ‘yes’ on the recall at one point, but the problems with government were already there before Davis. I don’t think it’s right to blame him,” first-time voter Anette Gaca said.
Gaca, 19, cast her gubernatorial vote for Bustamante, whom she said she agrees with on most issues.
“Arnold was just too vague for me,” Gaca said.
“I like him as the Terminator, but that’s not going to be my reason for voting for him,” said a South Valley precinct voter and 15-year Gilroy resident who declined to give his name. The voter said he supported Bustamante.
Schwarzenegger will take office next month and begin pursuing his campaign promises, one of which is to cut vehicle license fees. The impact locally could be a $2.5 million loss from the city’s $33 million general fund.
“What is promised in a campaign and what happens in reality are sometimes two different things,” City Administrator Jay Baksa said. “We’re not going to react until things get presented to the legislature. They have to approve a change like that. We still don’t have a dictatorship here.”
For more information on Tuesday’s election results, visit the Web address: http://vote2003.ss.ca.gov.
