SANTA CRUZ, Calif .– (CN) Despite fears of election chaos and the presence of a raging pandemic, all was well in the Santa Cruz County Elections Department on polling day 2020
« I wasn’t worried because I have the best team, » said Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin
Pellerin is in charge of the elections in the small coastal county located about an hour and a half south of San Francisco, along the picturesque cliffs of the central California coast
Voting was orderly, and more so than in previous years, as the polling station inside the county building was quiet
« There was a small line at noon, » said John Beck, the county’s campaign coordinator. « But overall it was a lot smoother than normal »
Outside, people lined up in their cars and dropped off their ballots in an official drop box in front of the county building
Early voters voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump to the tune of 94,251 vs. 19,871, with assorted votes allocated to lower candidates
Anna Eshoo, the incumbent Democratic incumbent, leads Rishi Kumar, a Democratic challenger, 15,712 to 8,318 Eshoo shares the county with Jimmy Panetta, another Democratic incumbent well ahead of his Republican challenger Jeff Gorman, 74,716 against 14,343
Democrat John Laird mocked Republican Vicki Nohrden as the pair fought to represent Santa Cruz County in the State Senate Laird got 90,682 votes while Nohrden garnered 23,764
In both races at the rally, Mark Stone, a Democrat, led Republican Shomir Banerjee 77,728 to 19872 And Robert Rivas, the Democrat, beat Republican Gregory Swett by a tally of 12,847 to 2,975
Many voters who cast their ballots outside the county building described the process as easier and less stressful than in years past
“I enjoyed voting at the house where I could research voting initiatives,” said Ashleigh, a Santa Cruz resident who declined to provide her last name. “In years past, I went to the voting booth and I wish I could have done more research «
Courthouse News interviewed a dozen voters, all of whom voted for Biden in the presidential election
After the ballot closed at 8 p.m., Pellerin gave Courthouse News a behind-the-scenes look at the voting process.First, all ballots are scanned by computers and the signatures on the ballots match those that the election service recorded
While the county could choose to have the signatures compared by computers, Pellerin prefers that a human analyze each signature.If there are discrepancies in a signature, she goes up the hierarchy of the department to Pellerin
If she finds that irregularities are present, she contacts the elector in question and gives him the opportunity to « correct » his ballot
« In some cases the signature is missing entirely, in which case we always contact the voter, » Pellerin said
“In the last election, 70,000 people voted and out of that number, 95 were contested,” Pellerin said
After the signature verification phase, the ballots are taken to the basement where the tabulation machines are located.They were counted on the third floor in a room in the Election Department, but Covid-19 meant that the election workers had to disperse more, so it was in the basement
Santa Cruz County has 19 different polling stations, so the collection of ballots on Election Day will be brought in, analyzed for correct signatures, and then submitted to the compilation machines
There is little anxiety about most national and national races, although the race for County Supervisor can have an upheaval or two
« Thank you all, » Pellerin told the rally of election workers seconds after the polls closed at 8 p.m.m « It was a historic election and we couldn’t do it without you »
Presidential Election for Santa Cruz County, California, USA, 2020
News from around the world – USA – Election day is going well on the Central Coast of the California
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com