A voter is shown in the polls on Election Day in Hollister. The county elections department is nearing completion of its counting, more than a week after polls opened.
The voting habits of San Benito County became clearer Monday with most of the vote-by-mail ballots finally being counted. Head elections official Joe Paul Gonzalez estimated, meanwhile, that voter turnout will end up at around 80 percent.
While not all ballots have been counted yet, he confirmed that 19,190 votes were cast in last week's election. Of registered voters in San Benito County, 78.4 percent voted, with more to be verified.
Gonzalez said there are still 250 to 300 contested vote-by-mail ballots. A contested ballot is one that was kicked out by the machine due to something being wrong on the ballot. Forgetting to sign the ballot is one common reason.
The county must count 500 provisional ballots, which come from walk-in voters who had previously not registered to vote. Gonzalez said they must be gone through one by one to ensure voter eligibility, what races the voter can decide on and to ensure they haven't voted twice.
Gonzalez pointed to the presidential election as the reason for the turnout.
"I don't think there is any question that the presidential election was a big draw," Gonzalez said, adding that President-elect Barack Obama has a profound effect on getting voters, who might not normally vote, to the polls. On a state level, he also thinks that Proposition 8 was a big draw as well.
Colin McConville Colin McConville is a reporter with the Hollister Free Lance. You can reach him by email or at (831) 637-5566.
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