Voter Turnout Is Low; GOP Moderates Lose

Re “Simon Trounces Riordan, Storms to GOP Nomination,” March 6: I am sure Gov. Gray Davis was celebrating along with Bill Simon over Simon’s win. With his extremist views that only a minority of Californians can identify with, Simon just gave Davis a second term. While Richard Riordan reached out to many people of all colors, religions and party affiliations, Simon reaches out to the anti-abortion extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party. People can call me a “Jeffords Republican” or a “Riordan Republican,” but come November, I will be a Republican voting for Davis.

Marlena Robins

Cypress

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Once again the Republican Party has shot itself in the foot by nominating Simon over Riordan. Is it any wonder that the Legislature has been in the hands of the Democrats? Is there a chance that the party in this state has any idea how to win an election? There seems to be no place for a moderate in the California Republican Party.

This is one moderate Republican who can no longer support the party. I will not vote for Davis for governor; he has already shown that he isn’t qualified to run this state. But I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Simon, another candidate out of touch with the electorate. I can only hope that eventually the party will wake up and realize that no conservative can win statewide office in California, or even a majority of the local Assembly seats.

Harvey J. Glass

Sherman Oaks

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Davis and his political machine successfully brought down Riordan with one of the most loathsome examples of dirty politics this state has seen in recent years. This was politics at its worst. For you to write a positive article (“Davis’ Brash Tactician Grabs National Notice,” March 6) about this strategy is like giving a salute to a gangbanger for a carjacking.

California deserves someone better than Davis.

John Glasscock

Claremont

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Fellow Californians, hang down your heads in shame! All of those who did not vote in the primary election (more than two-thirds of registered voters) have made a mockery of what this great country is all about--and in a time when our blood is being spilled on foreign soil to protect the freedoms that so many of you apparently take for granted. How many of you who were flying the Stars and Stripes on your cars just months ago couldn’t take 10 minutes out of your day to exercise your right to vote?

There. You have been scolded. Now mark your calendars for Tuesday, Nov. 5, and vote!

Ron Sloan

Costa Mesa

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Think Florida is the only place with voting problems? At my polling place were three booths: Democrat, Republican and American Independent. I asked a poll worker which I should use as a Libertarian and was directed to the American Independent booth. She promised to add “Libertarian” to its sign. There, the hole-punch chain had to be unscrewed and reattached because it was too short to reach the ballot. When I finally was able to punch in my selections, I overheard this from outside: “I’m the voting overseer here, but I really don’t know what I’m doing.” God bless America!

Angela Dawson

Woodland Hills

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I arrived at the Oasis Christian Center at approximately 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, and they told me that no ballots had been delivered. Doesn’t seem to me to be the way things should be run if county registrars actually expect people to vote. But perhaps they don’t!

Meredith Wright

Los Angeles

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I went to my redistricted voting precinct at the Winnetka Recreation Center. Two precincts vote there, but one was mysteriously missing, so hundreds of voters were told to fill out a pink envelope for “a provisional vote.” There was no book to sign, and who knows what happened to our vote. I asked the person in charge to call someone and he said, “There’s no one to call.”

The registrar of voters should be replaced for this type of bureaucratic bungling. It’s not the chads.

Bill Rice

Winnetka

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When I voted Tuesday, the people at the polls said they did not expect a good turnout. In this affluent, upper-middle-class area, a good turnout is 40% of the registered voters. Less than half. I would just like to point out that taking part in the democratic process is not a right, it is a responsibility. If you do not vote, that flag on your car is an insult to those who do.

Rodney Vaccaro

Woodland Hills