As we await the outcome of the pending court trial to determine the victor in the race to replace former Supervisor Lou Correa in the First Supervisorial District I thought we could all participate in a blog survey regarding the poor voter turnout in this Special Election. Not to pick on Santa Ana, the largest city in Orange County, I checked with the Registrar’s office on their participation in the Feb 6th Special Election.There are 93,523 registered voters in Santa Ana of which only 17,090 voted on Feb 6th. This represents just over 18 percent.
The First District has 205,459 Registered voters of which 22.4 percent, 45,946 cast ballots in the Special Election.
As the largest voting block in the First District the following question warrants debate. Why did 76,433 registered Santa Ana voters boycott the Special Election?
Let me preface my listing of possible reasons for their failure to participate by stating that Santa Ana’s code enforcement department did not obstruct the candidates in posting their signage. As I often drive to the Hall of Administration using different routes the city was plastered with candidate signs, many of which were huge mini billboards. Not attending or viewing Santa Ana City Council meetings I do not know if Mayor Pullido reminded people to engage in, what my side calls, GOTV. Get Out the Vote.
Based on your feedback I will share your thoughts on the following random reasons:
1. Unhappy that Senator Lou Correa, whom we elected to the First District, didn’t complete his term in office
2. Didn’t like the choices
3. Too many candidates to select only one
4. Couldn’t find a stamp for the envelope
5. Couldn’t find a pen or pencil to mark the ballot
6. I only registered so that the person who signed me up could make a few bucks
7. As I am turned off on all these elections.. I boycotted as a protest
8. I forgot the date
9. I had other things to do on Feb 6th
10. The dog ate my ballot
11. polls closed to early
12. I couldn’t find my polling place
Considering the illiteracy rate in Santa Ana is one of the highest in the nation….that could be one theory.
When you have a city that has a large number of people with a second-grade education from a third-world country……..its easy to do the math.
Anon said……..”its easy to do the math.”
not for me…i attended Santa Ana Public schools!
Ask Art, I’m sure he knows. He’ll tell you they were disenfranchized by all of the Vietnaemse candidates on the ballot. And Carlos too.
In fairness to the residents of Santa Ana I need to go on record that this low voter turnout is not unique to your city. Either during or after testifying to the CA Senate on the Voting Rights Act I did mention the low turnout in the 48th Congressional District Special Election in my Orange Grove that was published last January. In that Op-Ed I argued that the poor turnout (26 percent)was caused by voter apathy, not illiteracy.
#1 I believe the majority of the registerd voters mentioned on this blog are at least high school graduates and native born . Maybe you want a law stating that only college graduates , Home owners , males ect… can vote .
Are you the same Art Lomeli that is going to be on the newly formed Hispanic Gang commission?
I am sure looking forward to hearing your viewpoints and seeing how you vote.
As I look into my crystal ball I can see that you will definitely NOT do anything about the root problem: Complete lack of accountability from parents.
Instead you will:
1. Lobby to have more money thrown at ineffective government programs.
2. Lobby to replace/decrease parental accountability with increased after-school programs at a HUGE cost.
3. Not blame gangsters for bad decisions…..after all it is not THEIR fault, right Art?
What did I miss?
One of my many email responses:
“Huh? Was there an election?”
Though there were signs out, many are oblivious, or just plain dumb..
#7 I am that guy. Better get a new crystal ball . The one you have is defective . Yor problem is that a solution will be found . This will throw a monkey wrench into your agenda . You missed the many other reasons that along with a lack of parental accountability are responsible for this terrible social problem . More governmental programs and not placing responsibility on kids would be ineffective .
Progressives are sick and tired of how conservative Democrats have hijacked the party structure. As long as Kucinich supporters and other REAL Democrats are excluded, the Democratic Party will founder.
Dr. Lomeli , congratulations on your appointment to the newly formed commission. I believe it’s important for all community stakeholders to have a place at the table and since you are a downtown businessmen, I heartily welcome you as one of our newest commissioners.
As far as #1. Isn’t it a shame that stupidty isn’t against the law? If so, he/she would qualify as the national poster person.
Lomeli says: “a solution will be found”
Nobody will be holding their breath.
Lomeli says: “More governmental programs and not placing responsibility on kids would be ineffective”
I can finally agree with you on this point. It is refreshing to hear a full-blown leftist like yourself make the statement that more government programs “would be ineffective”. I am glad that you are the first member of this commission to publicly state your opposition to more government programs to battle Hispanic gangs.
It is also refreshing to hear that you will be placing responsibility on the kids. I have never heard a left-wing Democrat EVER say that kids are responsible. They usually attribute Hispanic gang violence to:
1. The evil white man
2. Not enough food stamps
3. Not enough gun control laws
4. Terrible teachers
5. Lack of free dinner to go along with the free breakfasts & lunches
6. Not enough free/Section 8 housing
7. Lack of respect for the gangsters
8. Lack of jobs for gangbangers
I look forward to seeing you follow through on your statements of putting responsibility on the kids & recognizing the ineffectiveness of more costly government programs to address the issue.
RE: #11
Your “unedjukated” opinion of Dr. Lomeli makes you look awfully bad. He is, in fact, a registered republican and has been for a long time.
His experience and insight will be very valuable on the commission.
#11 I do not care for labels ( leftist ) . I do not make decisions based on what a leftist or right winger would do . Politicians are ineffective because of this . I dislike politics as party hardcore activist go .I am a registered Republican . Thanks for your positive comments .
When working at the polls, I make a note of all the voters who’s names would be well known.
Even people who would be considered stake holders and supporters of running candidates and who hold college degrees, may not find the time during the 30 day time frame to vote.
Plenty of people with no education came in and voted.
Back to the topic-
Special elections are notorious for their low voter turnout. There has to be something really important on the ballot to get voters to participate.
1. Many residents can’t relate the significance of the BOS to their lives.
2. There was no Santa Ana candidate that ignited their interest.
3. The absentee programs weren’t effective, outside the Vietnamese community, which did have candidates that ignited their interest.
4. There was no “boycott”. There was just no interest.
5. Some of the polling places changed and some people didn’t think this election was important enough to track down the new location. (See #1 & #2)
Nothing stops a bullet like a job
In an email exchange with an active blogger I agreed that a better word to express the poor turnout might be voter “apathy.” following is my remarks and that person’s additional comments.
LGPWR@aol.com wrote:
XXXXXX. Perhaps a better choice would be “voter apathy.”
Apathy aside, this trend is very disappointing. In my off-the-cuff
comments to the Board of Supervisors yesterday I mentioned the Voting Rights Act where citizens have the ability to express their position at the ballot box. We see photos of Iraqi’s with purple fingers proving their voting under extreme safety concerns while we, in the comfort and safety of our surroundings, are so turned off by our elected officials and nonstop elections simply stay home.
The response follows:
——————————-
The voter apathy really is terrible — on this we agree 100%! I think there are several reasons for it.
1) the negativeness of politics these days turns a lot of people off.
2) ditto for the polarization of politics. Most voters are actually
moderates — more conservative than the average Dem and more liberal than the average GOPer.
3) the voting problems in certain places in the US have made people feel their votes don’t count.
4) ditto for contested elections. The situation with Janet and Trung
will make some people feel their vote wasn’t counted.
5) A small number people are literally afraid to vote. I’ve encountered this in the Latino community in San Juan, where naturalized citizens have heard about the letters sent by Tan Nguyen and have decided to stop
voting.
Changing the subject somewhat, do you know that one of the cities in OC with exceptionally low voter turnout is Aliso Viejo? Strange but true.
If you asked the actual voters, and not the geeks (me included) that post here….the #1 answer(s) would be…What election? OR It was not a Big election (presidential) so why vote? OR What is a Board of Supervisor?
cook Says:
3/07/2007 2:17 PM
When working at the polls, I make a note of all the voters who’s names would be well known.
Cook – best not to advertise that as making a list or note of those that voted is probably prohibited as a poll worker.
Interesting topic, Larry!
I think that one of the reasons for low voter turnout in Santa Ana was that there was no excitement about any of the Democratic candidates. And Santa Ana is substantially more Democratic than the other cities in the Sup. District. It would be interesting to compare Democratic turnout among the cities in the district.
Secondly, voters in Santa Ana are more likely to be people who work more than one job or work and go to school as compared to the other cities. These commitments and basic survival issues leave little time for frivolous things like voting.
Finally, people in Santa Ana are less likely to have access to a car. When precincts are consolidated, few voters are motivated to walk more than a few blocks to cast their ballot.
In short, the socioeconomic status of many voters in Santa Ana makes it tougher to increase turnout.
Another response via email:
How about: ” I have no idea what a county supervisor does or why it’s important to vote for one.”
anon #19 7:19pm
Poll workers are required to make a list of people who have voted and that list is updated hourly and posted for the poll watchers and campaign workers to view. (And turned in with the ballots and supplies to the ROV at the end of the night)
My “notation” is about matching a face to a name during voter greetings. No star chamber here.
Yes Cook, that is true but that is not what you said……
Cooks said: When working at the polls, I make a note of all the voters who’s names would be well known…
That implies that a) you did not do your job right and only made the list that is posted for the public of “well Known” voters or b) that you created a second note, for yourself of voters that would be well known. Which is it?
Should I have wrote “mental note” instead? Maybe. And you could call it a second list, even tho no second list would exist.
When you vote at the polls, do you read the names around yours when you sign on the dotted line and make a note to yourself if your spouse, children, neighbors, have come in and voted yet?
Sorry if my style of writing my opinion does not make sense from time to time.
Cook –
Thank your for giving of your time and working the polls from 6:30 am until past closing . You don’t have to devote a 12-hour day plus, but you do, and that makes you one of the good guys.