Live updates: Power outage slows vote processing at two NE Fresno polling sites

UPDATE 6:05 p.m.: Voters at two Fresno County voting centers in northeast Fresno and Clovis are being redirected to other locations after power was knocked out early Tuesday evening.

Voters were still casting their ballots at Buchanan High School and the Clovis Community College campus on Willow Avenue even after the power went out shortly before 5 p.m. But as the outage continued past 6 p.m., with only two hours before polls were to close, county election officials decided to begin diverting voters from those sites to two alternate locations.

James Kus, Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters, reported that voters from the Buchanan High site were being directed to the Woodward Park branch of the Fresno County Library. From the Willow Avenue college campus, voters were being directed to the college’s Herndon Avenue campus about a mile to the south.

UPDATE 5:32 p.m.: Power outages related to Tuesday’s storms flowing through the Valley are affecting two voting centers in northeast Fresno, slowing the processing of voters in line at those locations and creating concern that voters may need to be redirected to other center.

Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus told The Fresno Bee shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday that Election Day had been busy, but smooth and without hiccups until about 4:45, when the power was reported out at vote centers at Buchanan High School and at Clovis Community College’s Willow Avenue campus.

“We’re still processing voters” at the two sites, Kus said, “but the speed is drastically reduced, about a quarter of what it should be.”

The timing of the power outage only three hours before polls closed, and uncertainty of when electricity would be restored, had Kus and election officials contemplating the prospect of redirecting voters to other voting centers that still had power. “We’re getting relatively close to the time when we have to decide that,” he said. “We want to give voters an opportunity to vote if we can.”

Kus added that other vote centers could also be very busy, defeating the purpose of directing voters to alternate locations.

Previous updates:

It was a cold and rainy morning at the Fresno County election office on Tuesday.

But the storm was still holding off around 8 a.m. as James Kus was doing his media updates as a periodic stream of cars passed through the drive-thru ballot drop-off behind him in downtown Fresno.

The polls opened at 7 and turnout had been steady, said Kus, Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters.

“We’ve had as many votes today as we had on Saturday and Sunday.”

The county had received 100,000 ballots as of Sunday night, which Kus said was on pace to meet historical averages for a gubernatorial midterm election.

If the numbers continued to be steady Tuesday, Kus said he expected voter turnout to be around 50%.

Some sections of downtown Fresno, including city hall, were affected Tuesday afternoon by a power outage caused by the wet weather.

The county’s elections office on Kern Avenue as of 1:30 p.m. had not been affected, Kus said.

Election Day voting

Voters had a choice of options for Election Day.

They could drop ballots at posted drop boxes (or at the election office drive-thru) until 8 p.m. A map of drop box locations was available on the county’s website.

They could also drop ballots in the mail, though those ballots had to be postmark by Tuesday, and Kus urged those who waited until the last day to vote by mail to actually go into the post office.

“Don’t use the blue box today,” he said.

Voters could also go in person to one of dozens of voting centers around the county.

The centers were open to all county residents, and able to register voters day-of if need be, Kus said.

He predicted voting centers would fill up as the day progressed: “They are going to get busy. There are going to be lines.”

Kus suggested those wanting to vote in person get to the voting center as early as possible, and expect a rush into the evening. He suggesting having a secondary voting center in mind, in case of long lines.

At 8 p.m., anyone not voting or in line to vote would not be counted, Kus said: “Eight o’clock is the strict deadline.”

Election staff was monitoring vote centers for election intimidation and other issues, Kus said.

Signs posted at voting centers and on official drop-boxes: “No electioneering beyond this point” and “Warning electioneering prohibited.”

According to the state, electioneering is the visible display or audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate or measure on the ballot within the 100-foot limit. Violations can lead to fines and/or imprisonment.

As of Tuesday morning, there had been no reports and none were expected, Kus said. He encouraged anyone experiencing issues to report that to the elections office immediately.

“Giving us a report a day later or a week later,” Kus said, “I can’t do anything about that.”

Protest votes and reproductive rights

Theo Hedgpeth, a Tek Systems county-contracted IT technician, was at the Central Valley Region Center on Tuesday morning to make sure the ICX digital voting systems worked properly. “A lot more people are doing drop-offs than voting in person,” he said.

Hedgpeth said he noticed a slow but steady flow of voters at the polling place Tuesday morning, but, like Kus, expected that to increase as the day wore on.

Fresno resident Tench Tilghman was among more than 90 people who had cast their ballots at the regional center since Friday, and one of 64 who had voted as of 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Tilghman was there, he said, to “vote in protest” on candidates, propositions and local measures.

Daniel Costa said he voted against Measure C, a half-cent sales tax intended to improve the overall quality of Fresno County’s transportation system.

“I can’t see giving more money (to the government) because they are not improving what’s there already,” he said.

“I just don’t like how California is being run.”

At the Sunnyside Regional Library a line calmly formed around 11 a.m.

By noon, the line to access the voting center in the library’s conference room had grown from a couple of people to more than a dozen, inching closer to the door and around the bookshelves.

The library was one of the few locations across Fresno County that took in early votes for 11 days. As of 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, an estimated 348 people had cast their ballots in person since Oct. 29.

As they waited, neighbors chatted in quiet tones.

Kevin Martínez said he forgot to drop off his ballot before Election Day, so he headed to the library to cast his ballot in person.

He was most concerned about Prop. 29, which would require dialysis clinics to have at least one physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant on premises while patients are being treated. He said he voted in favor of the proposition.

“People’s lives are at stake, and their lives need not to be because of a medical procedure,” Martínez said.

Arturo Fuentes voted against Prop. 29.

“Having professionals seems like an extra barrier to get the treatment,” he said.

He did vote in favor of Measure C, a half-cent sales tax intended to improve the overall quality of Fresno County’s transportation system. Fuentes said he also voted in favor of Proposition 1, which would amend the California Constitution to explicitly protect an individual’s right to an abortion in the state.

“I did vote to give people the freedom to make their own choices,” he said.

Christine Harrell said she voted no on all state propositions and local measures.

“The one that concerned me the most was fixing the roads — Measure C — because it is not going to the roads,” Harrell said.

She said she wants, “to get us Republicans back in office.”

Harrell added, “I was a Democrat, but no longer.”

For Briana and Dylan Hardcastle, the vote was about keeping Democrats — Gov. Gavin Newsom, in particular — in office, as well as securing reproductive rights.

“It’s really nice,” Brian Hardcastle said, ”to feel protected in California.”

The couple spent the morning going over their ballots at the breakfast table, before braving a walk in the rain to cast their votes at Fresno City College.

They always vote, usually by mail, but had recently moved and had to vote in person.

“People our age are feeling the push to be more politically engaged,” Briana Hardcastle said. The pair are in their mid to late 20s.

They cited voter guides put out by the community website uSpark as a good resource of information, written in verbiage that’s straight-forward and easy to understand.

What’s on the ballot?

Fresno County voters had much to consider in this round of voting.

Locally, voters decided on new school trustees for the governing boards of Central, Clovis and Fresno school districts. Voters also chose the next trustees for the Fresno County Board of Education and State Center Community College District.

While no Fresno city government races appear on the ballot, city council and mayoral races were taking place in cities such as Clovis, Kingsburg, Reedley, Sanger, Selma and more. The ballot also included candidates for irrigation, hospital and fire districts.

Voters alsochose representatives for the state Senate and Assembly; U.S. Senate and House of Representatives; and a number of state offices such as judges, attorney general, secretary of state and governor.

Fresno voters had three sales tax measures to consider.

First, there’s Measure C, a $7 billion, countywide transportation tax renewal. The roads-focused spending plan will lock in future transportation infrastructure for decades.

Measure E proposed adding .02 cents to Fresno County’s sales tax to boost academic programs and athletic facilities at Fresno State. The tax would run for 20 years and generate an estimated annual average of $36 million.

Measure M is a proposed 0.125% sales tax, or one-eighth of a percent, on sales of taxable goods and services in the city of Fresno. The money will go toward veterans facilities and services.

Additionally, voters will decide on a number of state propositions on issues ranging from online sports gambling, reproductive freedom, dialysis requirements, tobacco products, green house gas reduction programs and more.

When will results be reported?

The first round of results will be reported shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday and posted on the registrar of voters website. The first report will include results from ballots returned via mail by Monday, Nov. 7.

The results will be updated at least two times Tuesday night — one new report at 10 p.m. and another one sometime before midnight. Those results will include ballots from both early voting and Election Day in-person voting.

The next results reports will come Thursday. A third report likely won’t happen until the following week, after the Veterans Day holiday, Kus said.

Those who voted by mail or via a drop-off box can track the status of their ballot through the state’s tracking website at california.ballottrax.net/voter.

For more election information, visit the registrar of voters website at co.fresno.ca.us/departments/county-clerk-registrar-of-voters; call the registrar of voters office at 559-600-2575; or email the registrar’s office at Clerk-Elections@fresnocountyca.gov.