Broken machine, high turnout led to delayed numbers in November
’08
County Clerk Joe Paul Gonzalez this week expressed confidence
that the elections office will not have the same problems with
counting as it experienced in November 2008, when results were
vague on election night and about a week passed before all of the
vote-by-mail ballots were tabulated.
In response to the problems during the November 2008 election,
which had an unusually high turnout due to the presidential
election, Gonzalez pushed for a second vote-counting machine after
the one San Benito County maintains malfunctioned during the
tallying.
Broken machine, high turnout led to delayed numbers in November ’08
County Clerk Joe Paul Gonzalez this week expressed confidence that the elections office will not have the same problems with counting as it experienced in November 2008, when results were vague on election night and about a week passed before all of the vote-by-mail ballots were tabulated.
In response to the problems during the November 2008 election, which had an unusually high turnout due to the presidential election, Gonzalez pushed for a second vote-counting machine after the one San Benito County maintains malfunctioned during the tallying.
Supervisors in the spring of last year approved that expense, a used machine for about $60,000. Gonzalez and county officials also examined finding a secure room designated for the counting because elections workers use a courtroom that is not always necessarily available.
For the upcoming primary June 8, though, the room issue will not be a problem, Gonzalez said, because the courts already have set aside that date to have it open.
“We’re really waiting to be able to accommodate that need for the courts when it vacates the current building,” Gonzalez said, referring to the late 2012 estimated time frame for the new courthouse’s completion.
Aside from the counting machine breaking down – Gonzalez described how it scanned the ballots but did not tally them – the 82 percent turnout during that November 2008 election compounded the problems.
He said elections officials expect an especially good turnout in this November’s general election because the governor’s race is on the ballot, but not like the 2008 election “by any means.”
Elections leaders have not yet estimated turnout figures for the primary and general elections, but once then do, such projections can help them plan how many poll workers and ballots might be needed, he said.
It also might offer an idea of how many vote-by-mail ballots – formerly called absentees – will be awaiting the elections office once it starts counting those. They can be counted before 8 p.m. when the polls close, but they cannot be processed, Gonzalez explained. It is an important factor because more than 50 percent of county voters now routinely use the vote-by-mail process.
In light of the November 2008 issues and steps taken to alleviate them, Supervisor Anthony Botelho said he has “all the confidence in the world” in the elections department and Gonzalez, who is running unopposed in the primary for another term as clerk/auditor/recorder.
“Every election can pose new challenges,” Botelho said. “The best thing we could do is reassure the people to come out and vote, and their vote is important and it will be counted.”
