Ventura County residents started voting weeks ago in California’s primary election, choosing from a crowded field of candidates with redrawn districts and few incumbents vying for key seats.
On Tuesday, voters get a final day to cast their ballots. Along with dozens of local, state and federal races, the election will decide two contentious measures that would tighten the county’s environmental oversight of oil drilling.
We will be there until vote centers close at 8 p.m.
Hot races:
– Refresh for the latest news and photos from around the county.
Gun violence a concern
4 p.m.: Voters Debbie and John Perry of Ojai said their main issue was ending gun violence.
“I didn’t really see that on the ballot, which I would like to,” Perry said. “Hopefully we voted for the right people that would help.”
Camarillo voters line up
3:30 p.m.: Residents were lining up outside the Camarillo Public Library to cast their votes Tuesday afternoon.
Lydna Wasden said she will be closely watching the Measure A and B results. After reading arguments for and against the measures, she decided to vote “no” on both.
She said Americans need to get out and vote to take a stand against the direction the country is headed.
Wasden added she wanted to vote in person versus sending in her ballot.
“I just like the whole American idea of it,” she said. “I like to go in and vote and get a sticker.”
Voting picks up Monday, Tuesday
3 p.m.: Elizabeth Moore, lead elections officer at the Ojai United Methodist Church, said a steady of stream of voters showed up Monday and Tuesday.
But fewer turned out in the week or so before that. Without many voters on those days, Moore said workers had done some “role playing” to try to prepare for busier times.
More:Three candidates vie for Ventura County-based 38th Assembly District seat in primary
Voters wait for last day
2:30 p.m.: Elections chief Mark Lunn said the county’s turnout appeared higher than the state average as of Monday.
But the number of returned ballots still came up short of those in previous elections.
“Everybody up and down the state is low. The turnout is low,” Lunn said.
But voting picked up in the county on Tuesday, he said.
“We kind of suspected that folks were waiting until the last day to come out, and I think that’s happening,” he said.
So far, he had no reports of long lines or significant issues at the vote centers.
Voters: Gas prices, Sheriff’s race key
1:45 p.m.: On Tuesday, voters Melvin and Jeanne Ellison of Santa Paula had concerns about high gas and food prices as well as inflation.
Sofia McDonald, 36, who voted at the Santa Paula Blanchard Community Center while holding her 9-month-old son, said the sheriff race was important.
“There’s a lot of conversation in the community I live in,” she said.
Lunch rush over
1 p.m.: Lunch rush has passed at the Borchard Park vote center in Newbury Park.
A poll worker reported about 200 ballots cast in person at the location. Far more vote-by-mail ballots had been dropped off.
More:What to know about candidates for 26th Congressional District seat
In-person voting increasing
12:40 p.m.: Santa Paula Councilman Andy Sobel rode his bike about a mile to get to Blanchard Community Library Tuesday.
Sobel, also an election worker, dropped off his ballot at City Hall but said he has noticed more people saying they want to vote in person.
As of Monday, the elections division reported 2,789 voters had cast ballots in person. That’s of the nearly 108,000 county residents who voted before Election Day.
The number of in-person voters had more than doubled by mid-day with nearly 3,600 people casting their ballots in person on Tuesday alone, preliminary figures show.
More:Here’s what you need to know about Ventura County’s June 2022 primary election
County allows same-day registration
12:15 p.m.: If you have yet to register to vote, there’s still time. Eligible voters can fill out a ballot and a registration form at the same time.
The conditional voter’s ballot comes back to the elections office in a different envelope allowing staff to review the information to make sure the person is eligible to vote.
By late Tuesday morning, the elections office at the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura had some lines forming, officials said. People can get help with registration changes, signing up or other issues at any of the county’s 51 vote centers.
First-time voter casts ballot
12 p.m.: Jasmine Gomez, 19, of Santa Paula, voted for the first time Tuesday at Blanchard Community Library.
The process was “quick,” she said, but there were a lot of issues to vote on.
The Santa Paula library had around 40 people Tuesday morning, said Audrey Steele, lead elections official. A lot more people are expected after 5 p.m. when people get off work, she said.
More:Will Roe v. Wade angst affect June primary in county? Here’s what we know
‘Individual votes count’
11:45 a.m.: Ron Robinson, 80, a retired prosecutor who voted at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, said it was very important for him to do so.
“I happen to believe that individual votes count,” he said Tuesday.
He voted for Bernardo Perez for county supervisor in District 4 and “yes” on Measures A and B.
In Moorpark, Renea Teninty voted “no” on Measures A and B and for Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin to take over the supervisor’s seat.
“Our country is in a lot of turmoil and we the people need to express our opinions,” she said.
Turnout climbs to 21%
11:30 a.m.: By late Monday, roughly 108,000 or 21% of the county’s nearly 507,000 registered voters had cast ballots, according to preliminary figures from the county elections division.
By comparison, almost 225,000 voters had cast ballots one day before the governor’s recall election in September. Nearly 325,000 had returned ballots one day before the November 2020 presidential election.
More:California primary: Ventura County voter turnout low ahead of Election Day. Here’s what to know
Few incumbents in key races
11 a.m.: Of the seven contested county offices in the primary, only the sheriff’s race has an elected incumbent running.
Here’s more on those races:
In-person voting picks up
10:20 a.m.: In the past hour, 602 voters showed up at vote centers throughout the county.
So far, the county reported 1,626 voters cast ballots in person Tuesday. That’s more than voted in person in the first 9 days vote centers were open.
The county switched to a new election model this year, opening a smaller number of voting locations but adding more days to vote in person. Ten sites — one for every 50,000 voters — opened May 28. The number increased to 51 vote centers — one per 10,000 voters — on Saturday.
Voting centers are listed here.
More:What to know about candidates in 42nd Assembly District race
A ‘distressing’ lack of lines
10 a.m.: Steven Gray isn’t a fan of a California primary system where the top two finishers advance regardless of party.
He said people don’t realize that unless they vote in June, their candidate may not make it to November. “I’m distressed I’m not seeing long lines,” said Gray, who was voting in Ventura Tuesday.
In Thousand Oaks, Nicole Cardoza, 37, dropped off her mail-in ballot at the Ascension Lutheran Church. She said it was “absolutely” important for her to vote.
“We have to make a change,” she said. She declined to say what kind of change.
Oil drilling measures draw voters
9:30 a.m.: A 28-year-old Ventura resident voted early on Tuesday because she feels her generation is not being represented.
“I feel like a lot of people gave up on voting because they think it’s like pointless,” she said, declining to give her name.
Richard Nuccio came to the polls to vote for Measures A and B, which would tighten the county’s environmental oversight of oil drilling. The Ventura resident lives on a sailboat and often sails by oil rigs, he said.
Mary Casswell, a Ventura esthetician, voted “no” on A and B because she thinks they exemplify over-regulation. “We don’t need to give up anymore of our independent energy resources,” she said.
Read more: Here’s what Measures A & B would do
Slow, but steady
9:10 a.m.: Turnout was slow but steady at the Goebel Adult Community Center voting center in Thousand Oaks Tuesday morning.
The voting center had 30-plus people show up in the first hour.
More:June 7 primary: Gorell leads in fundraising for supervisor’s seat despite late start
‘getting elected, staying elected’
8:45 a.m.: Seth Williams, 40, of Ventura, has voted in every election since he was 18 and he didn’t break that chain Tuesday. After voting at the National Guard Armory, he talked about protecting the environment, gas prices and politics.
“There’s two things about politics — getting elected and staying elected,” Williams said. “That’s what drives politicians.”
No lines in Ventura
8:30 a.m.: The vote center at the Ventura County Government Center had people casting ballots but no long lines Tuesday morning.
The elections office – one of 51 vote centers – has been one of the busiest locations for in-person voting leading up to Election Day. Locations in Camarillo and Simi Valley also reported some of the highest numbers of in-person voters, according to the elections division.
Voters head to centers
8:15 a.m.: Around 200 voters showed up to cast their ballots within 30 minutes of vote centers opening Tuesday, according to the county elections division.
Heading into Tuesday, elections chief Mark Lunn said it was difficult to predict whether the vote centers would be busy. This is the county’s first election under a new model and that leaves some unknowns, he said.
His office had hoped to hire as many as seven or eight election workers for each location. But the number of hires had come up short of that goal.
More:June 7 primary: County opens dozens more in-person vote centers ahead of California election
Most voters choose mail
7:45 a.m.: County election officials received nearly 90,000 ballots by early Monday. More than half of the voters sent their ballots by mail.
Here’s how the numbers broke down:
- 49,751 ballots received by mail
- 37,313 ballots received in county drop boxes
- 1,488 ballots cast in-person at vote centers
- 908 ballots dropped off at vote centers
Voters may be ‘apathetic’
7:30 a.m.: With voter turnout just over 15% heading into Election Day, officials say voters may be skipping Tuesday’s primary.
“This is a fairly large ballot,” said Mark Lunn, the county’s elections chief. “And, it seems like they just voted for governor.”
The primary typically will have lower turnout than general elections. In many races, the top two vote-getters in the primary will face off again in November.
The county recorded around 39% voter turnout in the 2018 primary, according to Lunn. By comparison, the county hit a record high with 85.9% turnout in the 2020 presidential election.
More:Four county offices up for election
Vote centers open
7 a.m.: Vote centers have opened for the final day to cast ballots in the primary election.
The county has made the switch to a new election model this year. Instead of hundreds of polling places, a smaller number of vote centers opened for additional days. Voters can cast ballots at any center in the county, not just those closest to them.
On Tuesday, 51 vote centers will open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election officials urged voters to bring their mail-in ballot with them for a quicker process. Without a mail-in ballot, election workers will check the rolls and provide a new ballot if the person has not yet voted.
Early turnout lags
As of Monday, roughly 90,000 of the county’s 506,000 registered voters had cast ballots.
By comparison, around 211,000 voters had cast ballots two days before the governor’s recall election in September. More than 300,000 had returned ballots two days before the November 2020 presidential election.
With a lot of outstanding ballots, county election officials urged people to vote early, send in mail-in ballots or use the county’s ballot drop boxes. Doing so would help avoid any potentially long lines at vote centers on Tuesday.
How to turn in your ballot?
- By mail, as long as it is postmarked by Tuesday and received no later than June 14.
- Drop it off by 8 p.m. Tuesday at one of the 38 official drop boxes or in-person voting centers listed at venturavote.org.
How to vote in person?
As of Saturday, the county increased the number of voter centers from 10 to 51 vote centers — one per 10,000 voters. Voters may choose any location not just the closest to home.
County elections officials recommend voters bring their mail-in ballot to the center for a quicker process. Without a mail-in ballot, election workers will check the rolls and provide a new ballot if the person has not yet voted.
How to track your ballot?
Voters can track their ballot at california.ballottrax.net/voter to see when it is mailed, received and counted.
How to register to vote?
In California, people can register to vote all the way through Election Day. Eligible voters can fill out a ballot and a registration form at the same time.
The conditional voter’s ballot comes back to the elections office in a different envelope allowing staff to review the information to make sure the person is eligible to vote.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
