Results tagged “Registrar of Voters” from Behind the Story
More than 550,000 people voted Nov. 4 in San Bernardino County, according to the latest numbers released by the Registrar of Voters.
Those votes put county turnout above the 528,387 votes cast in the 2004 election, setting an all-time record for the county.
By Melissa Pinion Whitt, Staff Writer
Braving chilly temperatures and rain, some San Bernardino residents arrived several hours before the doors opened at the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters to cast their ballots.
Braving chilly temperatures and rain, some San Bernardino residents arrived several hours before the doors opened at the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters to cast their ballots.
More
than 40 people lined up outside the Rialto Avenue office with voter
booklets in hand. The registrar shielded the early crowd from the
drizzle with a row of white tents.
"They told
me to be here by 5 (a.m.)," said Arthur Martin of San Bernardino. "They
told me if I didn't get here early, I'd be waiting a long time."
But Martin, who showed up at 5:30 a.m. to cast his vote for
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, was not the first in
line.
Ebony Arnold arrived with two of her young children at 4:30 a.m.
"The only other person here was the security guard," she said.
The
registered Democrat had decided ahead of time she would hit the polls
before she left for work in Rancho Cucamonga. But she hadn't planned to
go quite that early.
"I woke up at 3:30 a.m.
and couldn't go back to sleep," she said. "I turned on the news and saw
all the lines in New York and Chicago."
So the
San Bernardino woman grabbed her 4-year-old son Joseph, her 2-year-old
daughter, Khristian, wrapped them in warm coats and headed for the
registrar. It was in the high 50s outside and the rain was pouring
down. But sacrificing a few hours of sleep was worth it to her.
"It's really exciting," she said, gazing at the long line of voters.
Registrar
Kari Verjil also glowed with excitement as the voters poured in at 7
a.m. into a room filled with dozens of voting stations.
"It's
so heartwarming to see our voters up so early casting their ballots and
participating in this historic election," she said.
She's
seen heavy turnouts in the past, such as in the 1992 presidential
election, but nothing of this magnitude. With 737,000 registered voters
in 2004 and a whopping 829,000 this year, Verjil said the registrar had
been preparing for the flood of voters for some time.
"Yesterday we had a line out the door and all the way around the building," she said.
Bill
Goodreau of San Bernardino showed up around 6:30 a.m. toward the back
of line, but was still able to get to a voting terminal within minutes.
Goodreau,
who voted for Republican candidate John McCain, said he doesn't usually
vote in the morning, but this year he made an exception.
"It's going to be chaos and mayhem later on," he said.
If you're a bit confused about the wording of Measure S on your sample ballot, it's okay.
The measure, which concerns a proposed charter amendment and ethics in San Bernardino County, needs majority approval in order to pass. The Sun's editorial board opposes the measure.
The description of the measure on the Registrar of Voters Web site is a bit vague: "Shall the Charter of the County of San Bernardino be amended to establish a higher standard of ethics for staff members of County elected officers?"
The amendment was proposed in the wake of scandal emanating from county Assessor Bill Postmus' office. Postmus is currently being investigated by the district attorney.
If you'd like more information on Measure S, so that you can make up your mind for yourself, click here: http://www.sbcounty.gov/sbco/cob/AG070808/ITM67/default.asp.
This is a link to a county report outlining the principles of the proposed charter amendment.
Another caller, John Warder, a Devore resident, says he signed a petition at the Wal-Mart on Hallmark Parkway in San Bernardino and later found out he had been registered as a Republican.
The Republican registration prevented him from voting in the Primary.
"I was very upset about it," he said. "Then I went to vote and I couldn't vote."
Note: Although the voter fraud allegations originated from the San Bernardino County Democratic Party, the sources quoted in news stories have not been supplied by the county Democrats. In numerous instances, residents called the paper when the first articles about the suspected voter fraud and district attorney's office investigation were published.
We just received another call reporting another incident that occurred in San Bernardino.
We've received a number of calls from people who say they were unknowingly registered as Republicans after signing what they believed was a petition to increase prison time for child molesters. The incidents being reported occurred in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Rialto, San Bernardino and Highland, according to the county Democratic Party.
Click here to read today's latest story: http://www.sbsun.com/sanbernardino/ci_10559994
If you are concerned you were a victim of the voter fraud scheme, there are two government agencies you should call:
- The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, 909-387-8300, to check how you are registered and to report voter fraud.
- The California Secretary of State, (800) 345-8683, a voter fraud hotline to report instances of voter fraud.
Today's story: http://www.sbsun.com/sanbernardino/ci_10559994
A San Bernardino resident just called in to say that he and his wife signed petitions at Wal-Marts in San Bernardino and Highland. One of the petitions they believed they were signing was to put tracking devices on child molesters.
"I've got two little girls," the resident said about what convinced him to sign the petition. "Anything about keeping child molesters in prison we're definitely going to sign."
The Sun has received a number of reports from residents in San Bernardino County who suspect they may have been victims of voter fraud.
The county Democratic Party says the voter registration scheme was conducted at Wal-Marts in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino.
UPDATE: Reached yesterday by phone, Kate Folmar, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Debra Bowen, had this to say:
"The secretary of state takes seriously all allegations of voter fraud and elections fraud, and she encourages people who have knowledge of any alleged fraud to report it to her office."
As a voter fraud scandal continues to unravel in San Bernardino County, we've received a few calls from people who say they were unknowingly registered as Republicans after signing what they believed was a petition to increase prison time for child molesters.
Click here to read today's latest story: http://www.sbsun.com/sanbernardino/ci_10559994
If you are concerned you were a victim of the voter fraud scheme, there are two government agencies you should call:
- The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, 909-387-8300, to check how you are registered and to report voter fraud.
- The California Secretary of State, (800) 345-8683, a voter fraud hotline to report instances of voter fraud.
The alleged voter fraud scam with the district attorney is investigating occurred at Wal-Marts in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino, according to the Democratic Party.
Over the past few months, it looked like a sure thing that the San Bernardino County Democrats were going to turn our red county blue. Not so fast. A dramatic surge in Republican voter registration this month has upset that trend.
As of a couple weeks ago, the Dems were behind the GOP by only a few hundred registered voters. But in the latest numbers released by the county Registrar of Voters, the small divide has widened. Currently, there are 307,132 registered Republicans compared to 303,531 registered Democrats in the county. Of course, the recent allegations of Republcan voter fraud might change those numbers further.
The county Democratic Party had planned on clebrating turning the county blue in October. But the party has had to change its plans. Now the Democrats will just be celebrating a "bluer" county, and not a takeover.
The party will be held 4-11 p.m., Oct. 11 at Bob Molina Memorial Park behind the Brotherhood of Teamsters local #63 at 379 West Valley Boulevard in Rialto.
Tickets for the celebration are available for a contribution of $40 per person, and can be ordered on the County Party's website at www.SanBernardinoDemocrats.org.
Among those attending will be Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres.
You can check out the latest voter registration numbers by clicking here: http://www.sbcounty.gov/rov/general_info/distsummary.pdf.
The San Bernardino County Democratic Party disclosed details today implicating a Republican voter registration group that may have changed voters' party affiliation or registered them as Republican without their knowing.
Democratic leaders said at a press conference outside the Registrar of Voters office in San Bernardino that the group Young Political Majors had fanned out at Wal-Marts across the county asking people to sign a petition to stop sexual predators from getting out of jail.
Thirty-three voters who signed the petition said their party affiliation had been changed from Democrat to Republican, said Carol Robb, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party.
Similar allegations surrounding the group have emerged in Riverside, Ventura and Orange counties, said Sam Clauder, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Democratic Party.
The District Attorney is evaluating the claim of voter fraud, and it is unclear when a decision will be reached about conducting an investigation, said Susan Mickey, District Attorney spokeswoman.
"I'm not sure at this time they know how long it will take," she said.
This weekend, the "Votemobile" is taking to the streets of San Bernardino County as part of a campaign to encourage people to register and vote by mail.
The Votemobile will be at the Route 66 Rendevous, Sept. 18-21, in downtown San Bernardino.
Voters can also download a vote-by-mail application at www.easyvoting.org.
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