Election Day arrives in Sonoma County

Sonoma County voters head to the polls today to make their picks for president, Congress, California’s 17 ballot propositions and a range of local races that will shape city councils, school boards and issues across the region for years to come.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

“Lordy, there’s a line!” said a poll worker who poked her head out of the Oak Grove Elementary School library in Graton to check on things prior to opening. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a line here.”

“We’re anxious!” responded Tom Schissler, who was standing fifth of 11 people gathered prior to the 7 a.m. opening.

For several waiting to vote it is an Election Day that seemed like it would never arrive.

(Angela Hart is reporting live in Sebastopol. View the Facebook Live video here.)

“I am thrilled,” said Joe Horak. He expected a massive, collective “sigh of relief it’s going to be over with. I think we know enough. We know probably too much about our candidates.”

Jennifer Butler also felt relief that the day finally had arrived.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Butler said. “We’ve behaved so poorly.”

After voting, Butler came outside and put both fists in the air and issued a quiet but vehement “Yes!”

“I’m so relieved it’s over,” she said.

The voters at the west county site were motivated by a mixture of races, with stand outs being the presidential and 5th District race for a seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

“I feel really proud and honored to vote ‘nasty,’” said Sean O’Leary, referring to Donald Trump’s label of Hillary Clinton as a “nasty woman.” The former Bernie Sanders supporter had pivoted quickly to Clinton, wanting to help “create the world I want my daughter to grow up in. I admire and respect Hillary and her civil service.”

Former history and government teacher Matt O’Donnell said he always looks forward to Election Day but this one holds a special meaning.

“It’s the first time to elect a female president of the United States. It’s historic,” said O’Donnell, who felt quite confident of a Clinton victory.

Butler said Republican co-workers have been offering up their opinions throughout the election season. “Today I get to celebrate,” she said.

Horak said he was mostly motivated by local issues and had left his presidential decision until the final moment. “I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for, for president, as I walk in here.”

As he left the library he said he’d marked the box for Clinton. “In the end I would trust Hillary more to lead the country.”

In the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors race for 5th District, five Graton voters all named Lynda Hopkins as their choice.

“I like that she is honest, she has good intentions,” Butler said. “She’s not playing the mean political game.”

Tom and Cindy Schissler said they’d met Hopkins early in the campaign, while at a fire house pancake breakfast. The first impression stuck. “We like her,” Cindy Schissler said.

Nearly 274,000 people are registered to vote in the county, an increase from both the June primary and the 2012 presidential election, when voter registration here totaled more than 254,000 and 260,000 people, respectively, according to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters.

Bill Rousseau, the county’s clerk-recorder-assessor and elections chief, said he expects about 85 percent voter turnout this year, which he described as a “pretty reasonable” predication based on past election cycles. The county reported 84.1 percent turnout in 2012 and 93.4 percent turnout in 2008.

“We are definitely higher than most other counties. We’re always higher than the state average,” Rousseau said. “I think people will be voting.”

The vast majority of Sonoma County voters cast ballots by mail. The county issued about 213,900 mail-in ballots this year and only about 121,170 were returned as of Saturday, Rousseau said, leaving a gap of nearly 93,000 ballots. Many of those will likely be dropped off in person today.

“That’s the scary part,” Rousseau said. “The beauty of vote by mail is when people get them in early, but the downside is when people hold (onto) them. It looks like they’re holding quite a bit this time.”

The tens of thousands of outstanding ballots leaves a lengthy task ahead for election officials, who must verify signatures and check rosters at polling places to make sure a voter did not cast a ballot twice or vote provisionally, according to Rousseau. Ballots returned early can be prepared so they are counted on Election Day, while those dropped off later will take longer to count.

Voters who still need to return their mail-in ballots can take them to a polling place or the Registrar of Voters office on Fiscal Drive in Santa Rosa, or get them postmarked at a local post office. The county has 194 polling places this year, staffed by 945 poll workers, most of whom have been through the process before and taken a two-hour training course, Rousseau said.

When results begin to come in tonight, Sonoma County voters will have their say on the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and a wide range of down-ballot contests. California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez, both Democrats, are vying to succeed Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate, and North Coast Congressmen Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson are both up for reelection, facing Republican challengers Dale Mensing and Carlos Santamaria, respectively.

Also on the ballot are statewide ballot propositions regarding recreational marijuana, the death penalty, the cost of prescription drugs, condom use in adult films, bilingual education and the state’s ban on single-use plastic bags, among other issues.

Locally, Lynda Hopkins and Noreen Evans are facing off for the only open seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, in the 5th District, while six candidates are vying for four City Council seats in Santa Rosa. Dozens of other candidates are battling for available spots on city councils and school boards across the county.

Local voters are also considering ballot measures to raise sales taxes for county parks and the Sonoma County Library, among other issues.

Voters can look up their polling place at vote.sonoma-county.org.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @thejdmorris.