Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Vote!

Posted By on Tue, Nov 8, 2016 at 3:03 PM

click to enlarge Emily Lynn leaves the Veteran’s Memorial Building after casting her first ballot in a presidential election. According to poll worker Byrd Lochtie, there has been a line out the door since the polls opened.
  • Emily Lynn leaves the Veteran’s Memorial Building after casting her first ballot in a presidential election. According to poll worker Byrd Lochtie, there has been a line out the door since the polls opened.
It’s a stressful day, we get it. You’re spending the afternoon hovered over some kind of screen, watching pundits breathlessly report the first round of exit polls. And, you may be feeling the anxiety rise in your gut because you haven’t voted yet. Or maybe you voted by mail weeks ago but find yourself suddenly sure the system really is rigged and your vote will never be counted.

If either of those hypotheticals apply to you, relax, we’ve got you covered.

Local polls will remain open until 8 p.m., so you’ve got some time. Don’t know where your polling location is? This link will take care of you. Don’t know what’s on the ballot? Click here. Don’t know what to make of all those propositions? Check in with the folks over at Ballotpedia.org. If you need some added motivation, check out local poll worker Juanita Claybon's picture below for a visual pep talk about how fabulous voting can be.

And if it’s just that vote-by-mail ballot that’s filling you with doubt, you can check its status online. Just visit the Humboldt County Elections Office website at www.humboldtgov.org/elections. Click the Vote by Mail link on the left and scroll down to the Vote-by-Mail Ballot Status section and follow the instructions.

If neither of those situations apply and you’re still fraught with doubt and worry, there’s not much we can do for you other than to say we touched base with Kelly Sanders, Humboldt County’s registrar of voters, and she reports all is going smooth at this point.

Sanders says her office has gotten a few reports of some failed devices at the polls, but has been able to swap them out with backups in short order. There have been some reports of longer-than-usual lines at some polling locations, but Sanders said that’s probably due to a higher-than-usual turnout, coupled with a mammoth two-page ballot. “It’s a lot to go through,” she said.

The county should have its first results posted shortly after the polls close, Sanders said, noting that her office has about 12,000 early vote and mail-in ballots ready to go.

That's the best we can do to set your mind at ease, other than to say it'll all be over soon. Check back with us through the night for updates on local results.
click to enlarge Election worker Juanita Claybon was dressed to the nines on election day in Eureka. Claybon said it was her second time working the polls and that it was a lot of fun. - MARK MCKENNA
  • Mark McKenna
  • Election worker Juanita Claybon was dressed to the nines on election day in Eureka. Claybon said it was her second time working the polls and that it was a lot of fun.

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Thadeus Greenson

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Thadeus Greenson is the news editor of the North Coast Journal.

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