Long, Intricate Ballot, a Big Turnout Could Bring Gridlock

No one ever said it was easy to be a good citizen, and prospective voters in Tuesday’s election may find civic duty difficult when facing a line of 40 other voters, each clutching a lengthy and complex ballot.

County election officials say a combination of important state, federal and local elections makes “voter gridlock” a distinct possibility on Tuesday and they are urging voters to cast their ballots early and make their decisions before they enter the polling booth.

The majority of voters in the county will grapple with a double-sided, five-card ballot, but voters in Anaheim and some south county cities will have to poke through a six-card ballot, County Registrar Donald Tanney said.

“Unfortunately, we can’t control the length of the ballot and this year there are a lot of state issues, plus important county and city elections that could potentially pose a problem (with long lines),” Tanney said.

Problems could be exacerbated because of the large numbers of voters expected at the polls. Sparked by vigorous voter-registration drives by both parties, the number of registered voters in the county now stands at nearly 1.2 million, a 14% increase since the June primary, Tanney said.

Even though state regulations say that voters are guaranteed only 10 minutes in the polling booth, Tanney said the rule will not be enforced, although precinct workers might try to “nudge” undecided voters who tarry too long.

Also, voters who arrive before the 8 p.m. closing time will be allowed to cast a ballot, even if it means keeping a polling place open another hour, Tanney said.

“We have reminded precinct people during training that anyone on line at 8 p.m. will get to vote, but if they arrive one minute after 8, they are tardy and they will not be able to cast a ballot,” he warned.

The county’s system does not allow for fudging if there is a long line: a precinct volunteer will stand at the end of the line promptly at 8 p.m. Anyone behind him will not be allowed to vote.

While election officials have taken no extraordinary steps to avoid congestion at the polls, Tanney said he is optimistic that things will go smoothly Tuesday. There will be 2,160 polling places this year, and officials estimate that in only a few cases will the numbers of registered voters assigned to a polling place exceed 1,000.

Officials are also encouraged by the numbers of absentee ballots requested for this election. More than 94,000 voters had requested absentee ballots by Tuesday and the number is expected to rise to more than 100,000 by the time they are all counted, Tanney said.

The largest number of absentee ballots ever returned to date was 63,000 for the 1984 presidential election.

Tanney said polling places will not deploy so-called express booths, a device some other counties in the state are using to try to avoid lines and delays this year. Tanney called the booths “unnecessary.”

But some election officials say the booths--for voters who already know how they are going to vote and only need to punch the ballots--will make the voting process easier.

Germaine Wong, acting registrar of voters in the city and county of San Francisco, said she is anxious to see how well the system will work.

“It is the first time we’ve ever tried this and I’m sure there will be a few bugs,” Wong said. “But I think it will be a great help to voters, especially this year when we anticipate this ballot being a particular problem.”

Wong said each of the city’s 621 polling places will have at least one express booth. Additionally, in the larger polling places such as schools and recreation centers, voters will be allowed to mark ballots outside of a booth--in a quiet corner, for example--if they are not uncomfortable doing so.

While election officials may be a bit worried about tie-ups, many precinct workers expressed optimism. Voters in Marie Connell’s Anaheim precinct will converge on her home to cast their ballots.

“Oh, no! Thanks for letting me know about that,” said Connell, when told about official estimates of long lines of confused and undecided voters. “I haven’t even looked at my sample ballot yet, so I didn’t know what to expect.”

Connell, 37, said the house at 6290 Via Ribaza Drive has been a polling place for years, and when her family bought the home a year ago, county officials asked her to continue the tradition.

The novice precinct worker said she was a little nonplussed when county officials asked her to put together an election team--the required four precinct workers per polling place--but the June primary election came and went without a hitch, she said. Predictions to the contrary, she expects Tuesday to be the same.

“I’m definitely optimistic things will run smoothly,” she said. “I can’t believe that people would wait till they got to the polling place to look at all this election material. I think a bigger problem is getting people to vote at all. I would urge them to look at the issues and candidates seriously.”

Election officials say potential delays can be avoided with a little voter cooperation. Among the suggestions:

* Vote during mid-morning and mid-afternoon “slow spots.” Usually, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

* Study your sample ballot.

* Make your decisions before you arrive at the polling place and pre-mark the sample ballot to use a reference.

It may be too late for this election, but if you request an absentee ballot, you can avoid polling places entirely.