Polling Places Will Be Fewer and Farther Apart

Voters accustomed to visiting their neighborhood polling places may have to go a little farther to cast their ballots Tuesday, when less than half the usual number of polling places will be open for the off-year election.

County officials say there will be 872 polling places open on Tuesday, compared to about 2,150 in a primary or general election with national or statewide races, and fewer than in any countywide election this decade.

The number of polling places has been reduced mainly because in an off-year election, only about 10% to 12% of the electorate goes to the polls, compared to about 70% in a general election.

The 872 polling places are about 300 to 400 fewer than in past off-year elections, when up to 1,271 polls have been open. County Registrar of Voters Donald Tanney said that after monitoring voting patterns for the past two years, he determined that fewer polls were needed.

Reducing the number of polling places by 300 should not have an adverse effect on voting and will save the county about $75,000, he said.

“That to me is significant money,” he said. “In the past, with 1,200 polls and 10% turnout, (poll workers) sat around with nothing to do all day.”

Tanney said voters were informed of their polling places on sample ballots mailed recently by his office.

“We just presume that they will look at it,” Tanney said. “If they go to the wrong place, they’ll figure it out. It’ll be different, not necessarily harder.”

There are several municipal issues on Tuesday’s ballot, including Irvine’s controversial Measure N, which seeks to remove gays from the protection of the city’s human rights ordinance, and La Palma’s Measure Q, which would impose a 4% utility user’s tax to raise money for city services. There also are elections in eight local school districts and in the Coast Community College District, and a recall election in Fountain Valley. But for about 45% of the county’s voters, Measure M will be the only item on the ballot, Tanney said.

Measure M would increase the county’s sales tax a half-cent to raise about $3.1 billion over the next 20 years for widening and improving highways, creating “super streets” and synchronizing traffic signals, as well as other transportation projects.

Proponents of Measure M, who have raised more than $1.8 million for their campaign, have been most concerned about voter turnout. Polls have shown consistently that while supporters of Measure M outnumber opponents, those against the half-cent tax are are more likely to go to the polls.

In a typical off-year election, about 10% to 12% of the county’s voters go to the polls. Measure M proponents have indicated that the countywide proposal is in jeopardy if turnout drops below 25%.

For that reason, the smaller number of polling places has been something of a hurdle, the measure’s supporters say. How much of a problem it is “we’ll know on election day,” said Alan Hoffenblum, manager of the Measure M campaign. “We’re doing everything we can.”

To combat the normally low turnout for off-year elections, the Measure M campaign has launched a major effort to get people to vote by absentee ballot.

ON THE BALLOT

Measure M, the proposed sales tax for transportation projects, is the only countywide issue facing all 1.15 million registered voters on Tuesday, but more than a fourth of the Orange County’s voters also will have a chance to decide school board races, cityhood and other matters.

Elections in Orange County on Tuesday include:

* Countywide: Measure M, a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for an estimated $3.1 billion in traffic improvements.

* Irvine: Measure N, an initiative sponsored by anti-gay-rights activists seeking to remove homosexuals from protection under the city’s Human Rights Ordinance.

* Laguna Niguel: Measure O, a cityhood proposal for residents who now live in an unincorporated area administered by the county. Also on the area ballot is Measure P, which asks voters to decide whether City Council members should be elected by district or at-large, if a majority of voters approve cityhood. Voters also will be asked to choose five City Council members from among 23 candidates. In addition, residents will be asked to vote for two incumbents to continue serving on the Laguna Niguel Community Services District, should cityhood fail.

* La Palma: Voters will consider Measure Q, a proposed 4% utility users tax to raise money for the city’s general fund and the Police and Recreation departments.

* Newport Beach: Measure R would authorize the city to extend for 10 years the current lease on property at Coast Highway and Newport Boulevard to encourage private redevelopment of the site. The current lease to private businesses there expires in 2008. Also in Newport Beach, voters will consider Measure S, which would allow the sale of an unused, vacant, $350,000 city-owned lot on River Avenue to raise money for libraries and parks.

* Fountain Valley: Voters will decide whether to recall City Councilman Fred Voss, who was arrested last January for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer during a crackdown on prostitution. Voters also will decide whether Voss’ successor shall be elected or appointed if the recall is successful.

* Voters will elect two trustees each in the Coast Community College District and Garden Grove Unified, Irvine Unified and Santa Ana Unified school districts.

* Three trustees each will be selected in the Newport-Mesa Unified, Huntington Beach Union High, Anaheim City and Lowell Joint school districts.

* In the Orange Unified School District, voters will choose four trustees to serve four-year terms, and one to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term.

* Voters will elect four trustees in the Silverado-Modjeska Park and Recreation District.

* Property owners in the Los Alisos Water District will choose two directors from among three candidates. The district includes parts of Lake Forest and El Toro, and land owners cast one vote for each dollar of their assessed property value by mail-in ballot.