http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20080205-2156-ca-eln-californiaprimary-voting.htmlRegistrars begin slow task of tallying Calif. primary votes
By Allison Hoffman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9:56 p.m. February 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES – California's registrars began the arduous task Tuesday night of tallying what may be a record number of ballots cast in the state's presidential primary. Precincts in at least two counties ran out of Democratic ballots after an unexpected surge of nonpartisan voters asked for party ballots.
Precincts in Alameda County stayed open as late as 10 p.m. after polling stations in Berkeley, Oakland and other cities ran out of ballot cards. With 15.7 million voters registered – an all-time high for a presidential primary in California – and turnout apparently heavy throughout the state, election officials predicted that counting would last into Wednesday morning, potentially delaying final results. “Some are thinking 10 a.m., but I don't know if they're being conservative,” said Steve Weir, head of the state registrars' association.
Meanwhile, registrars warned that as much as a quarter of the total vote might be left uncounted until later in the week. Mail-in ballots received on Election Day can be counted only after precinct votes are tallied and then must go through a time-consuming verification process. More than half of the 5.5 absentee ballots sent to voters remained outstanding Tuesday morning, and an unknown number of provisional ballots requiring special verification were cast during the day.
“We may not even get a rough count of how many ballots are out there,” said Paul Gronke, a political scientist from Reed College in Oregon who was in California to observe the election. California's top election official said Tuesday that her office had fielded complaints from nonpartisan voters who had trouble casting presidential primary ballots. Under state rules, voters who aren't affiliated with any political party can vote in the Democratic or American Independent primaries, but they have to specially request a ballot. The state's Republican primary is closed to voters not registered with the party.
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Meanwhile, registrars warned that as much as a quarter of the total vote might be left uncounted until later in the week.snip