County Turnout Moderate : Pace at Polls Is 1% Under ’86 Elections

Orange County voters went to the polls in moderate numbers this election morning, despite predictions that turnout could be among the lowest recorded since World War II.

By 11 a.m., 17% of eligible voters had cast their ballots, only 1% less than had voted by the same hour in the gubernatorial elections of 1986, said Registrar of Voters Donald F. Tanney. The final voter turnout in Orange County in 1986 was 60%, Tanney said today.

“Things are going fairly smoothly,” Tanney said.

Most voters arriving at the polls this morning clutched sample ballots or crib sheets to help them sort through roughly 60 different contests, including the tight race for governor, seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and a bewildering array of 28 ballot propositions.

In addition, Orange County voters were deciding the fate of an incumbent county supervisor, district attorney and county superintendent of schools, as well as a half-cent sales tax measure for transportation improvements.

“It was hard work!” said 84-year-old James C. Pierre of Santa Ana, after punching and turning in his nine-part ballot. Pierre, who has cast a ballot in every election since 1928, said he voted the straight Democratic ticket. “I think I did the right thing, but I don’t know,” he said.

Voters were sparse at Pierre’s McFadden Street precinct, a low-income neighborhood where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin of 10 to 1. By 9:20 a.m., only 19 of the 586 registered voters, or 3%, had cast their ballots, a lower turnout than last year, poll workers said.

In a Republican-dominated precinct in posh Huntington Harbor, however, nearly a dozen people were queued in front of the voting booths by 7:15 a.m.

“It’s a very heavy turnout,” said poll worker Joyce Friedemann, who expected this year’s turnout to match the 70% average of previous years.

As predicted, many voters of both parties in both precincts said they had voted against incumbents.

“They’re all a bunch of junk,” said Joe Cannon of Huntington Beach, who said he voted against every incumbent on the ballot. “As far as I’m concerned, none of them are worth a nickel.”

Alphonso Moore, 56, said he saved his ire for members of the Santa Ana City Council, whom he faulted for failing to deliver on promises to repair city streets.

“I voted against every one of them because they have been in too long . . . ,” Moore said. “They sit there and talk with a split tongue, and that’s all they do--talk.”

Other voters found the ballot propositions so treacherous as to be ludicrous.

“We sat there after dinner last night trying to decipher what all this meant,” complained Sandra Fishman of Capistrano Beach, who said she and her engineer husband studied their voter information kits for 4 1/2 hours and were stumped. “I simply couldn’t figure out if it’s what I wanted to vote for or not.

“I think if we are going to get people to come out and vote, we are going to have to simplify the ballot so people can understand it.”

Polls will be open this evening until 8 p.m.