ELECTIONS : 6 Women Win Their Fight to Cast Ballots

Rikki Alarian, who turned 18 in September, will be voting in her first presidential election today. Phyllis Kretch, 71, will be voting in her 13th.

But both had to fight for their ballots.

In a county where one in four registered voters is expected to steer clear of the polls today, Alarian, Kretch and four other women spent half a day at the County Government Center on Monday making sure that their voices will be heard.

“A lot of people my age don’t care, but I feel it’s an honor and a duty,” said Alarian, a Thousand Oaks resident. “You can’t not do it and then complain later.”

The six women discovered last week that their registration forms had not been forwarded to county elections officials. So on Monday they had to fill out affidavits and wait for a Superior Court judge to order their names added to the voter rolls.

“It’s a big hassle,” said Susan English of Thousand Oaks, after filling out her sworn statement in the district attorney’s office. “You really have to want to vote to go through this.”

But English said she would have banged down the courthouse doors if she had not been given a ballot.

“When I called the clerk’s office, they said there was nothing I could do,” English said. “I said, ‘Wanna bet? I’m a citizen, I’m registered and I’m going to vote!’ ”

Kretch, who lives in Simi Valley, said she and her husband, Burt, registered at a Thousand Oaks mall in August. A few weeks later, she said, “he received his card and I didn’t.” After several calls to elections officials, she was told she would not be able to vote.

But Kretch is the kind of person who saves things.

“I’ve got this nice little basket on the kitchen counter,” she said. There, amid grocery tapes and coupons, she found the stub of her voter registration card.

The other women had their receipts too. That was sufficient evidence to satisfy the district attorney’s office, which agreed to help the women maneuver through the bureaucratic process required for late registration.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin G. DeNoce said 11 cases have come to light in which registration forms were filled out but not forwarded to the elections office.

The six women--as well as two Simi Valley residents who went to court last week--were the only ones who had proof of registration and were willing to go through the hassle of getting a court order.

“I have to assume there are others who will show up at the polls tomorrow and not be allowed to vote,” DeNoce said Monday. He said some sign-up cards apparently were lost or destroyed during the massive registration drives that have added more than 39,000 voters to county rolls in recent months.

Failing to turn in another person’s registration card is a misdemeanor, DeNoce said, and prosecutors are looking into the possibility of filing charges. Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said he will at least issue a special report to put political parties and others who conduct registration drives on notice about the law.

County Clerk Richard D. Dean, who supported the women’s effort, said voters are better off sending their registration cards directly to the county rather than entrusting them to third parties.

After Judge Steven Z. Perren granted the women’s petition just before noon Monday, they walked over to the elections office and received absentee ballots.

“I’m amazed, really, that there is all this consideration for us,” said Kretch, who planned to fill out her ballot immediately. Heading her list of choices was Bill Clinton, in keeping with her practice of voting for Democratic presidential candidates since she went with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.

Alarian and English were leaning toward Ross Perot, as was Melba Nichols of Santa Paula, another late addition to the voter rolls. Laurel Dixon of Ventura was planning to vote for George Bush, and Rosemary O’Neil of Ventura declined to state her preference.

Nichols said friends have asked her why she was going to so much trouble to exercise her right to vote.

“It always has been one of the greatest gifts I have, a free country where I can vote for whom I wish,” she said. “It matters to me.”

VOTING UPDATE

About 77% of Ventura County’s 359,236 registered voters are expected to vote today in a presidential election that also includes races for two congressional seats and four seats in the state Legislature.

Twenty-three seats on nine local city councils--including mayor’s jobs in Oxnard, Simi Valley and Moorpark--are also on the ballot, along with dozens of other city and school board races.

Ballot measures in Ventura and Santa Paula also deal with importing state water and mobile home rent control, respectively.

Polls in the county’s 448 precincts will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Voters who need information about polling places should call the registrar of voters in Ventura. Calling numbers by area are:

Bell Canyon, Box Canyon and Oak Park, 1-800-660-5474; Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme, 385-8600; Fillmore and Piru, 524-4922; Moorpark, Newbury Park, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, 529-2060; Santa Paula, 933-8484; Ventura, Ojai and Saticoy, 654-5000. Dial extension 2754 after reaching any of the above numbers.