As Kristen Koehler handed in her election papers to the precinct workers, other people played goo-goo with her smiling 7-week-old son Logan in the baby carrier.
A few feet away, two friends who came in to cast their ballots inside the South Union Road Fire Station of the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District, greeted each other with a hug.
And when Dr. Mike Davis and his wife Lois arrived with their two Chihuahuas in tow – Pep and Chi Chi – some of the voters who were there could not resist falling on their knees and saying hello to the amiable four-footed friends who promptly returned the affection with friendly paws and a loving lick.
Friends greeting friends. Neighbors catching up with the latest news about families. Newcomers in town getting acquainted with old-timers.
These were among the reasons given by those who took the time out of their busy schedule at home and at work on Election Day Tuesday to drive or walk to their polling places instead of doing it “the easiest way” – fill out the ballot at home and then simply drop it in the mailbox.
Those who chose this “easy” way of voting were people who made election history too.
For the first time in California and in many places throughout the United States, more than half of the electors voted by absentee ballot, according to news media announcements. San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman pointed out this surge on October 21. As of the day before, he said his office had already received 30,000 absentee ballots.
But for many area voters, going to the polls was still the way to vote.
“I still like to vote the old-fashioned way,” said Edmund Carter as he exited the precinct located inside Lathrop City Hall around noon on Tuesday.
“It’s part of what we do as a country,” he said.
“Why not? I do it every year,” countered Raymond Orta when asked why he chose to drive to the precinct instead of just mailing in his ballot.
“It just feels like I did something,” coming into the polling place to vote, he explained. “I know I did it, and I feel comfortable doing it. I just don’t trust computers.”
Piped in his wife, Sandy, “I love coming down here,” then added jokingly, “and I like to look at the hot firemen,” as her husband pretended to be horrified, and ended the act with a hearty joint laughter that echoed inside the windowless bay where the fire trucks are parked when not in use.
“It’s too easy to vote absentee, to not put a lot of thought into the process. It takes commitment to go out to the polls,” said Matthew McGraw who, with wife Shannon, went to the Lathrop City Hall polling place with their two-week-old daughter, Tennessee, in tow.
For Shannon McGraw, being at the polling place actually filling out the ballot and casting it in the ballot box is about being connected with the people around you and with humanity.
“It’s sharing experiences with the community. It goes beyond just yourself. This is bigger than me, today or tomorrow. It opens broader perspectives of what you are voting for,” she said, sharing her own personal analysis of the significance of voting the old-fashioned way.
Her husband noted with dismay that so many people nowadays go to work, drive home and shut their garage doors without nary a greeting to any of their neighbors. There are so many ways that people today are disconnected from even their closest neighbors, Matthew McGraw noted. Going out to vote and meeting neighbors and friends is one of the ways to maintain the human connection, he said.
“Things like that build community,” he added.
“It’s so easy to live in a digital world. People are so digital,” noted Shannon McGraw.
Amanda Cargill, 22, did not mind going to the South Union Road fire station to cast her vote.
“It’s just simple. It’s easy and fast. I don’t mind it, as long as I get here before the line starts,” she said with a smile.
Some of those who went to the polls to vote, however, said that they would have voted by mail-in ballot if they had the opportunity or the time to do it.
Kristen Koehler said she did request for an absentee ballot from the Registrar of Voters but did not get the form in the mail.
“I didn’t get it,” she said.
But next time around, she will be voting by absentee ballot. “It’s easier and I don’t have to take the baby out; he’s heavy,” she said as she went out the door.
Cargill said she asked for a mail-in ballot also, and she “probably” received it in the mail but maybe misplaced it. “If I was more organized when I get the mail,” she would have voted by absentee ballot, she admitted with a smile.
Edmund Carter’s wife, Netra, said she would vote by absentee ballot. “It’s just faster; it makes sense.”
Registrar of Voters Erdman predicted a 55 percent voter turnout. He also reported an “increase in voter registration,” saying this election movement was probably due to the major political players in the senate race between Democrat . Barbara Boxes and challenger Carly Fiorina, the gubernatorial race between former governor Jerry Brown who wants his old office back from the 1970s and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, “plus a couple of local measures” including the one seeking to legalize marijuana. These, among others, were “pushing voters to go out and vote,” Erdman said.
San Joaquin County has roughly 270,000 registered voters.
A few feet away, two friends who came in to cast their ballots inside the South Union Road Fire Station of the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District, greeted each other with a hug.
And when Dr. Mike Davis and his wife Lois arrived with their two Chihuahuas in tow – Pep and Chi Chi – some of the voters who were there could not resist falling on their knees and saying hello to the amiable four-footed friends who promptly returned the affection with friendly paws and a loving lick.
Friends greeting friends. Neighbors catching up with the latest news about families. Newcomers in town getting acquainted with old-timers.
These were among the reasons given by those who took the time out of their busy schedule at home and at work on Election Day Tuesday to drive or walk to their polling places instead of doing it “the easiest way” – fill out the ballot at home and then simply drop it in the mailbox.
Those who chose this “easy” way of voting were people who made election history too.
For the first time in California and in many places throughout the United States, more than half of the electors voted by absentee ballot, according to news media announcements. San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman pointed out this surge on October 21. As of the day before, he said his office had already received 30,000 absentee ballots.
But for many area voters, going to the polls was still the way to vote.
“I still like to vote the old-fashioned way,” said Edmund Carter as he exited the precinct located inside Lathrop City Hall around noon on Tuesday.
“It’s part of what we do as a country,” he said.
“Why not? I do it every year,” countered Raymond Orta when asked why he chose to drive to the precinct instead of just mailing in his ballot.
“It just feels like I did something,” coming into the polling place to vote, he explained. “I know I did it, and I feel comfortable doing it. I just don’t trust computers.”
Piped in his wife, Sandy, “I love coming down here,” then added jokingly, “and I like to look at the hot firemen,” as her husband pretended to be horrified, and ended the act with a hearty joint laughter that echoed inside the windowless bay where the fire trucks are parked when not in use.
“It’s too easy to vote absentee, to not put a lot of thought into the process. It takes commitment to go out to the polls,” said Matthew McGraw who, with wife Shannon, went to the Lathrop City Hall polling place with their two-week-old daughter, Tennessee, in tow.
For Shannon McGraw, being at the polling place actually filling out the ballot and casting it in the ballot box is about being connected with the people around you and with humanity.
“It’s sharing experiences with the community. It goes beyond just yourself. This is bigger than me, today or tomorrow. It opens broader perspectives of what you are voting for,” she said, sharing her own personal analysis of the significance of voting the old-fashioned way.
Her husband noted with dismay that so many people nowadays go to work, drive home and shut their garage doors without nary a greeting to any of their neighbors. There are so many ways that people today are disconnected from even their closest neighbors, Matthew McGraw noted. Going out to vote and meeting neighbors and friends is one of the ways to maintain the human connection, he said.
“Things like that build community,” he added.
“It’s so easy to live in a digital world. People are so digital,” noted Shannon McGraw.
Amanda Cargill, 22, did not mind going to the South Union Road fire station to cast her vote.
“It’s just simple. It’s easy and fast. I don’t mind it, as long as I get here before the line starts,” she said with a smile.
Some of those who went to the polls to vote, however, said that they would have voted by mail-in ballot if they had the opportunity or the time to do it.
Kristen Koehler said she did request for an absentee ballot from the Registrar of Voters but did not get the form in the mail.
“I didn’t get it,” she said.
But next time around, she will be voting by absentee ballot. “It’s easier and I don’t have to take the baby out; he’s heavy,” she said as she went out the door.
Cargill said she asked for a mail-in ballot also, and she “probably” received it in the mail but maybe misplaced it. “If I was more organized when I get the mail,” she would have voted by absentee ballot, she admitted with a smile.
Edmund Carter’s wife, Netra, said she would vote by absentee ballot. “It’s just faster; it makes sense.”
Registrar of Voters Erdman predicted a 55 percent voter turnout. He also reported an “increase in voter registration,” saying this election movement was probably due to the major political players in the senate race between Democrat . Barbara Boxes and challenger Carly Fiorina, the gubernatorial race between former governor Jerry Brown who wants his old office back from the 1970s and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, “plus a couple of local measures” including the one seeking to legalize marijuana. These, among others, were “pushing voters to go out and vote,” Erdman said.
San Joaquin County has roughly 270,000 registered voters.
