GILROY
– Despite low voter-turnout forecasts for this Election Day,
apathy didn’t apply to the Gilroyans who cast ballots at local
precincts this damp and chilly November morning.
At the Gilroy Senior Center on Hanna and Sixth streets
– the town’s most frequented precinct – 40 voters cast ballots
the first hour after polls opened at 7 a.m. Poll workers called
it
”
a pretty good showing
”
in a gubernatorial election which the county registrar’s office
predicts will see less than half of registered voters visit
polls.
GILROY – Despite low voter-turnout forecasts for this Election Day, apathy didn’t apply to the Gilroyans who cast ballots at local precincts this damp and chilly November morning.
At the Gilroy Senior Center on Hanna and Sixth streets – the town’s most frequented precinct – 40 voters cast ballots the first hour after polls opened at 7 a.m. Poll workers called it “a pretty good showing” in a gubernatorial election which the county registrar’s office predicts will see less than half of registered voters visit polls.
“I vote every time, but the school bond is an especially important one for me this time,” said Dale Connell, as he and his wife of 63 years, Ruth, exited the Senior Center polls this morning.
Dale Connell, a longtime Gilroyan and a Gilroy Unified School District trustee back in the 1950s, said he was supporting Measure I, the $69-million facilities bond that will help construct a new high school and upgrade several aging campuses district-wide.
“I don’t want dumb kids pushing my wheelchair around,” Connell quipped. “I’d support the bond even if I didn’t have my great-grandchildren in schools here.”
For Celeste Zamzow, a regular voter and a resident here since the late 1930s, Measure I ranked high on her list of reasons to vote, too.
“I’m a Measure-I supporter, but I didn’t vote for Measure D last time,” Zamzow said on her way into the polls.
Measure D was a similar school bond on the March primary ballot. Gilroy voters narrowly defeated the measure by 146 votes. The bond needs 55 percent voter approval to pass.
“I think it’s set up better this time,” Zamzow said. “It’s fiscally wiser.”
Among other differences from its predecessor, Measure I earmarks funding to not only acquire land for a new high school, but to build it to 50 percent of its ultimate capacity, too.
At the Sunset Gardens precinct off Wren Avenue and Third Street, about 75 voters showed up during the first three hours of operation. Workers there called it a rather low turnout in comparison to past years.
Nonetheless, the precinct saw its fair share of line-ups, said Inspector Esther Robnett. The line-ups were the consequence of three broken ballot boxes (the plastic devices that hold the punch cards in place when voters punch out chads).
“We still have four up and running, so we’ll be OK,” Robnett said. “I expect our numbers (of voters) to taper off now anyway (during the typical working hours).”
Broken plastic will be a thing of the past next year for Santa Clara County. The registrar’s office has set the November 2003 election as its goal for using an electronic voting system, something the Federal Court has mandated to be in place by 2004.
Two Gilroy precincts – the Senior Center and the Masonic Temple at 8387 Wren Ave. – have electronic systems in place today for practice runs. Poll workers asked voters to familiarize themselves with the computerized touch screen method of voting before exiting polls today.
“It was easy,” said voter Joe Zertuche, “but I’m not sure it’d work for my 75-year-old mother.”
Zertuche said he hopes the county slowly phases in the electronic system while phasing out the tradition punch-card method.
“I’m sure they’re not going to make it the only way to vote,” Zertuche said. “If they do, my mom will fight them on it.”
Initially, electronic voting was slated for actual use in this election. The county registrar’s office decided to hold off, however, opting for more citizen feedback first.
After voters tried out the touch screen machines today, they were asked to fill out a survey regarding the system’s ease of use or lack thereof.
Voting electronically will not only prevent the “hanging chad” fiasco of November 2000 from happening again, it is expected to reduce election costs as well, since less printed materials would be needed.
The electronic system would send voting results directly to the registrar’s office where results would be tabulated automatically. The system is vastly different from the one longtime poll worker Neva Duncan used in her first years volunteering in Southern California during elections.
“We used to hand count everything. We were up until two, three and sometimes four in the morning,” Duncan said. “It was really a terrible job.”
There’s no indication electronic voting will draw more people to polls, however. And that lack of voter interest disappoints Duncan, who is now in her fourth year working polls here.
“If you don’t show up to vote, you have no right to complain,” said Duncan. “I never missed a voting opportunity, so I get to complain a lot.”
