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Uploaded: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 10:50 AM
Voting snarls trouble Belle Haven
Complaints filed with county and state
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by Sandy Brundage
Almanac Staff
Thousands voted in Menlo Park on Nov. 6. But not without facing crowds and confusing directions that left some Belle Haven voters heading home without casting a ballot.
The Boys & Girls Club served as a voting station for residents from precincts 4403 and 4404, according to observers. Councilwoman Kelly Fergusson, out in Belle Haven encouraging people to vote, was troubled enough by what she saw while at the polling station from about 4:30 to 6:10 p.m. to file complaints with both San Mateo County and the California Secretary of State.
"There were long lines like many places, but the level of disorganization really exacerbated the situation," Ms. Fergusson said. "In the line outside the building, there was no way for people to know there was a shorter line inside for the 4403 precinct. People arriving with completed ballots had no way of knowing they could drop them off inside without waiting in line. Instead of helping people determine their precinct, a poll worker, when he did briefly come outside, scorned people for not knowing their precinct number.
"Worse, there were two disabled people that clearly could not stand in line, but were not being accommodated."
Ms. Fergusson said she approached the chief poll worker, only to be told, "This is normal."
"In addition, I personally found it confusing that there were only two voting lists outside the building to look up which voters had voted -- for 4403 and 4404. However, the 4404 list seemed to contain the 4405 voters. Why wasn't there a separate list for each precinct?"
Belle Haven resident Eva Cuffy agreed, saying that set off "a long tedious process of finding one's address off of two different precinct lists by street name, then number. Many committed voters went home rather than stay in the long line."
Ms. Cuffy described a scene of chaos. Volunteers arriving to assist voters were thrown out of the building, she said. "I personally saw them disrespected for the service they were trying to supply. The voter manager was ill equipped to deal with two precincts. He didn't even know the boundaries of the precincts."
But the scene looked different from the county's perspective. Deputy Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder David Tom was on the scene during the early afternoon. When asked about reports that voters were sent away from the Boys & Girls Club to a station on the other side of U.S. 101, he said he didn't witness any of that, and the confusion may have stemmed from inexperienced voters going to the wrong precinct. "The poll workers are very knowledgeable; they live in their neighborhood, know their precinct and who should be voting in their precinct."
He thought the longest wait was about half an hour. "Belle Haven was busy, certainly, but not busier than other places."
As for disabled voters, Mr. Tom said voter machines designed for their easy use were available, but not set aside the way handicapped parking spots are. "So that may be an issue ... to tell you the truth this is the first time we've ever heard of this; we may need to revise the policy."
Most counties report only four to five voters using the handicapped-accessible machine, according to Mr. Tom, as many disabled citizens prefer to vote by mail.
By 6:50 p.m. on election night, according to the county's records, field technicians were on site in Belle Haven and reported "things are moving smoothly."
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Posted by voter supression, a resident of the Menlo Park: Downtown neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 11:24 am I heard about voter suppression in Florida and Ohio, but here in California too?
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Posted by George, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:21 pm Here we go again. Voters are sent and encouraged to bring with them their completed voter handbook to their polling place that contains their precinct. Long lines stem from unprepared voters. This happens every presidential election. But for the next 3 years there will be low turn out. If Ms. Fergusson was at a polling place that was not be her precinct, can that construed as electioneering since she was on the ballott? First the Brown Act, now electioneering violations!
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Posted by Matt Barnes, a resident of another community, on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:28 pm What kind of third world country keeps their citizens waiting in line and tries to suppress the vote? How embarrassing. Some lines in Florida required a SIX HOUR WAIT!!!
American needs a National Election Administration to insure that all precincts have enough machines and workers. A far as a voter ID law....
Maybe it is time for a National ID, we can have a little box on it checked for "gun owner" and keep track of our citizens.
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Posted by electioneering, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:50 pm George, Furgusson refused to be interviewed by investigators from the DA's office during a criminal investigation. If an electioneering investigation is kicked off, we can only hope she will be will to explain her act responsibly and explain her actions.
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Posted by George, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 1:56 pm It would be wise to understand the system prior to sharp shooting the process. Each precinct has at least 4 voting machines plus 1 for machine especially for the disabled. However, some choose to vote by paper ballot, allowing for more voters at the same time but slows the process. Except for presidential elections, many voters do so by mail or don't bother to vote. The polls open at 7am. If more people come prepared, the lines would move more rapidly. Everyone that shows up gets to vote. Patience is a virtue.
To Matt, 6 million+ gun owners didn't abuse their weapons yesterday.
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Posted by Matt Barnes, a resident of another community, on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:50 pm "6 million+ gun owners didn't abuse their weapons yesterday."
Interesting wording. How does one abuse a weapon? "Bad gun! You are a bad gun, I'm going to whup you!"
Jorge: 250 million Americans that don't own guns not only didn't "abuse their weapons" yesterday...........
THEY DIDN'T SHOOT ANYONE, either!
"The nation averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control. The crime lab’s research estimates the annual cost of gun violence to society at $100 billion."
Time for a national ID to replace all the GOP voter ID laws, and a National Election Administration.
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Posted by hopefull, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 4:11 pm Perhaps Congress can agree that it needs to set the standard for how elections should be done everywhere. They have the power. Why should voting differ depending where you live? Haven't we seen enough problems? Luckily we don't know for sure whether the machines the corporations own have been abused. Why should corporations own the machines and the software?
As for guns......... not sure why it's here....... but how many of the next countries after the US would you have to add up to equal our death toll? OK... Mexico would give you a lot.... and then? Is it still in the four digits per year range? What a great "right"!
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Posted by POGO, a resident of the Woodside: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 5:14 pm Three quick points.
1. Ms. Fergusson has been a member of the City Council for the better part of the past decade. If she has a problem with the way voter rolls are organized, she had ample opportunity to correct it long before election day.
2. Why people vote on election day is totally beyond me. You can vote early at many precincts or by absentee ballot at the convenience of your living room sofa for weeks prior to the election. The cost is a 44 cent stamp to mail it when you are finished. No lines. No waiting. No nothing. Or you can wait in line at the precinct on election day waiting for some idiotic voter ahead of you to read the propositions. Your choice.
3. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the voters of Menlo Park for finally and mercifully giving Ms. Fergusson her walking papers. I only hope her transparent aspirations for higher office have been extinguished.
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Posted by Michael G. Stogner, a resident of another community, on Nov 13, 2012 at 5:52 pm I'm with you Pogo, I voted by mail so long ago and with zero effort....Nice
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Posted by Menlo Voter, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2012 at 6:04 pm I voted at my polling place. On election day. I do so every election. No problems or long lines at my polling place. Maybe a lot of folks in Menlo Park don't vote? Or maybe the folks that vote where I vote come prepared.
As to gun deaths. I'd be willing to bet most of those are what we in law enforcement used to refer to as "AVANHI." A**hole versus a**hole, no humans involved - gang bangers, drug dealers, dirt bags, etc. Basically, the average law abiding citizen in this country is VERY RARELY killed by guns. One only need to look at Oakland to see who the majority of folks are that are dieing at the end of a gun.
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Posted by SteveC, a resident of the Menlo Park: Downtown neighborhood, on Nov 15, 2012 at 3:13 pm
SteveC is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online Voting by mail is even easier! Why go to election locations!
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