The Region - News from July 2, 1985

California Secretary of State March Fong Eu said she would support a law coordinating poll closing times across the country to prevent voters in the West from learning results of national elections before they have voted. Eu said that in 1980, about 400,000 voters stayed away from the polls after network broadcasts predicted that Ronald Reagan would win the presidency. Eu spoke in Los Angeles before members of the House administration subcommittee on elections, which is hearing testimony from state officials around the country on the feasibility of a law on uniform poll closing times. The major networks have already agreed not to project results before polls close if Congress passes a law requiring coordinated closing times.