2008 Woodie Awards
Props, candidates wait on millions of ballots
By: Ellen Walrath
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: News
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See video of why students voted at the bottom of this page
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Barack Obama is the president-elect and Wally Herger will return to Congress for his 12th term, but work continues for the Butte County clerk-recorder and registrar of voters.
"(People) think elections are over on Election Day," Candace Grubbs said. "Well, they're not."
There are 15,000 uncounted votes in Butte County and about 2.7 million statewide, she said. Those votes are just as important as any vote counted on Nov. 4.
"There's this big bulk of votes that can't be counted on Election Night, but they're valid votes," she said.
Sophomore Brian Ray, campus coordinator of the joint "no" on Proposition 4 and Proposition 8 campaign, is paying attention to the vote tallies as they change, but not closely, he said.
Proposition 4 is the notification of parents of a minor who wants to have an abortion and Proposition 8 is the same-sex marriage ban.
"Those votes aren't from the demographic we were aiming for," he said. "From what I've learned in class, absentee voters are usually older, more conservative."
Proposition 4 is failing and Proposition 8 is passing, both by about 500,000 votes, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site.
In Butte County, the final count could take until as late as Thanksgiving week, Grubbs said. Unlike Election Night, Butte County Elections Division won't be updating its Web site until all the votes are tallied.
Some races might hinge on those last few thousand votes.
Democrat Charlie Brown and Republican Tom McClintock, the candidates for California's 4th Congressional District, are within 889 votes of each other as of 7 a.m. Monday, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site.
Approximately 56,000 votes are left to count in that district.
Ray, who worked on the Brown campaign, thinks Brown will win because the more liberal counties have the most votes left to count, he said.
Chico City Council might have a different makeup than reported on Election Night, according to the Butte County Elections Division. Council Member Larry Wahl and candidate Mark Sorensen are vying for the fourth seat and are separated by 328 votes out of nearly 100,000 votes.
Incumbents Ann Schwab and Andy Holcombe, and newcomer Jim Walker, are likely taking the other three seats.
Ellen Walrath can be reached at
ewalrath@theorion.com
Video by Eder Diego
See video of why students voted at the bottom of this page
--
Barack Obama is the president-elect and Wally Herger will return to Congress for his 12th term, but work continues for the Butte County clerk-recorder and registrar of voters.
"(People) think elections are over on Election Day," Candace Grubbs said. "Well, they're not."
There are 15,000 uncounted votes in Butte County and about 2.7 million statewide, she said. Those votes are just as important as any vote counted on Nov. 4.
"There's this big bulk of votes that can't be counted on Election Night, but they're valid votes," she said.
Sophomore Brian Ray, campus coordinator of the joint "no" on Proposition 4 and Proposition 8 campaign, is paying attention to the vote tallies as they change, but not closely, he said.
Proposition 4 is the notification of parents of a minor who wants to have an abortion and Proposition 8 is the same-sex marriage ban.
"Those votes aren't from the demographic we were aiming for," he said. "From what I've learned in class, absentee voters are usually older, more conservative."
Proposition 4 is failing and Proposition 8 is passing, both by about 500,000 votes, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site.
In Butte County, the final count could take until as late as Thanksgiving week, Grubbs said. Unlike Election Night, Butte County Elections Division won't be updating its Web site until all the votes are tallied.
Some races might hinge on those last few thousand votes.
Democrat Charlie Brown and Republican Tom McClintock, the candidates for California's 4th Congressional District, are within 889 votes of each other as of 7 a.m. Monday, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site.
Approximately 56,000 votes are left to count in that district.
Ray, who worked on the Brown campaign, thinks Brown will win because the more liberal counties have the most votes left to count, he said.
Chico City Council might have a different makeup than reported on Election Night, according to the Butte County Elections Division. Council Member Larry Wahl and candidate Mark Sorensen are vying for the fourth seat and are separated by 328 votes out of nearly 100,000 votes.
Incumbents Ann Schwab and Andy Holcombe, and newcomer Jim Walker, are likely taking the other three seats.
Ellen Walrath can be reached at
ewalrath@theorion.com
Video by Eder Diego
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