Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany A. Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) = - Jerry Budrick=20

Carolyn Fischer, elections inspector = for one of=20 the precincts in Ione, feeds a ballot to an electric counter = Tuesday=20 evening. She said several of the parents who brought their = children to the=20 precinct let them "participate" in the voting process. This young = "voter,"=20 sporting an "I Voted" sticker, visited the precinct with her mom = and=20 dad.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Election officials in Amador City = showed the bell=20 they have used for many years to signal the opening of the polls. = From=20 left are Sharon Miller, Kathy Vicini, Lizabeth Miller and Paul=20 Rodriguez.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
When Carolyn Fischer first became = an=20 elections clerk in 1960, she remembers staying up until 4 a.m. counting = ballots=20 with the other volunteers. Life on Election Day is much easier these = days, she=20 said while feeding a ballot to an electronic counter at an Ione precinct = Tuesday.

Fischer and her election clerks, however, weren't = feeding as=20 many ballots to the machine as they had during previous election days.=20

The day's voter turnout in Ione was very low, said Fischer, the=20 elections inspector for one of the two precincts at the Evelyn Bishop = Hall on=20 South Church Street. "In February, we had a huge turnout," she said. = "Usually=20 this place is jammed."

On Tuesday, only 117 voters had visited = the=20 precinct between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. "Usually we have that many by 8 = a.m.,"=20 Fischer said. The precinct also had 500 absentee voters, which accounts = for=20 about half of the precinct's registered voters, she = said.

Traditionally,=20 Amador County has one of the best voter turnouts in the state, said = Dolores=20 Larrington, the elections inspector at the Evelyn Bishop precinct for = residents=20 living just outside Ione city limits. Sixty-seven voters visited this = precinct,=20 located just across the room from where Fischer and her clerks were = working.=20 "Eighty-five percent (voter turnout) is a norm for this county," = Larrington=20 said.

That norm was missed by a wide margin Tuesday, when = slightly more=20 than half that number submitted ballots. A total of 8,891 ballots were = cast,=20 representing 43.68 percent of the county's pool of registered voters. = Voters=20 cast 2,084 ballots for the District 1 supervisor race, 1,846 in the = District 4=20 race.

"Oh my gosh, the turnout for the District 1 race was lower = than=20 city council races," said John Gonsalves, a county planning commissioner = who=20 lost his supervisor bid to retired businessman John Plasse.

Even = the 2006=20 primary saw 58.36 percent of registered voters casting ballots. On = Tuesday,=20 Amador County fell somewhere between other counties in California, with = the high=20 turnout being 63.7 percent in neighboring Alpine and the low being 16.3 = percent=20 in Los Angeles.

Ken Berry, a Jackson software developer who also = came up=20 short in his bid, said he wasn't shocked at all, what with the June 3 = primary=20 falling between February's popular presidential primary and November's=20 anticipated general election.

Earlier in the day, polling = volunteers were=20 gearing up for the typical voting surges. Lori Leval, a first-time = volunteer in=20 Pine Grove, said the staff had stocked up on coffee and magazines in=20 anticipation of a long day. But by 7 a.m., the location had seen only = four=20 voters, two of them volunteers and two who dropped off mail-in ballots. = One was=20 Pine Grove resident Jack Mangan, who dropped off his ballot on the way = to=20 breakfast. His Election Day routine is to take his ballot out the night = before=20 and take time choosing his options.

"I like voting at home = because it's=20 easier," he said, "plus I can look over anything I might have=20 missed."

Although he declined to reveal his choices, Mangan did = say his=20 affiliation as a "stout Republican" usually sways his vote.

Later = that=20 afternoon in Jackson, the domination of mail-in ballots was also = apparent. At=20 the Jackson Community Center, election official Paul Molinelli Jr. = estimated=20 that 47 percent of voters in his precinct had chosen mail-in ballots, = the same=20 estimate made by volunteer Ruth Cornell in Pine Grove. Pointing to a = stack of=20 envelopes on a counter behind the officials' tables, Molinelli expressed = his=20 surprise at the number of mail-in ballots that had been hand-carried to = the=20 polling place.

Still, those who did make it out to volunteer or=20 participate enjoyed their twin endeavors. Voters Marge and Bill = O'Conner, who=20 voted at the Evelyn Rose precinct, said they enjoy the voting experience = and=20 usually top it off with an evening out to dinner, which is what they did = after=20 voting Tuesday evening.

"It's nice to be involved in the = community,"=20 Marge added. "I'm surprised it's so slow."

"My favorite part of = the=20 election is getting to see the same people over and over again," said=20 Larrington, who's worked at the polls on election days for the past 37 = years.=20

Most of the day's voters were "older," said elections clerk = Marianna=20 Sotherden, who worked at Fischer's precinct. There were also quite a few = new=20 voters, Fischer said of those whose recent birthdays allowed them to = vote for=20 the very first time. "They are very excited about being able to=20 vote."

One of those was Gonsalves' 18-year-old son, Jordan, who=20 accompanied his father to the downtown Jackson polling location. "I = turned 18,"=20 Jordan said, "and it enabled me to vote for my dad. I think I made the = right=20 choice."

Jackson native Marshall Cova refused to divulge his = choice among=20 the four candidates for District 1 supervisor, following his father's = lead. Cova=20 had asked his father which candidate he had chosen on his absentee = ballot,=20 prompting dad to launch into a speech about his constitutional right to = privacy.=20 Cova did say, "It's nice to see a clean race. I'm glad there are folks = willing=20 to take the civic challenge."

Jackson poll worker Pat Messinger, = who has=20 been an election official for 22 years, said, "This is the slowest I've = ever=20 seen." Molinelli agreed, adding, "It's slower than normal, but will = likely get=20 to over 50 percent, counting the mail-in."

The absence of = contenders in=20 the race for District 2 supervisor may have contributed to the low = turnout in=20 Ione and Amador City, according to volunteers. Supervisor Richard = Forster, who=20 represents both, ran unopposed. "There's no one to fight for," = Larrington=20 reasoned.

Four election officials at Amador City City Hall, = approaching=20 the end of their nearly 14-hour shifts, sounded slightly disappointed at = the low=20 voter turnout. Between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., only 17 voters had turned out. = Theories about the sparse traffic included: "There was the election in=20 February;" "There are a lot of absentees;" and, "Our supervisor is = running=20 unopposed."

Kelly Scott and Raheem Hosseini contributed to = this=20 report.

Bethany A. = Monk