Morgan Hill voters started lining up before the polls opened this morning to make what they see as crucial decisions that could profoundly affect their families, their employment and future generations in the 2012 general election.
Voters entering and exiting Morgan Hill polling places this morning said the presidential race, in which incumbent Barack Obama faces challenger Mitt Romney, is among the most important votes on Tuesday’s ballot.
But others cited state propositions proposing fundamental changes to some long-standing state laws – such as the “three strikes” law and the death penalty – as key reasons they voted.
At the Crossroads Christian Center precinct on West Main Avenue, where about 1,300 voters are registered, some residents were outside waiting to vote even before the polls opened at 8 a.m., according to precinct manager Henry Navarrette.
“There were about 15 people in line at 8 a.m.,” Navarrette said.
As of about 10 a.m., 62 people had cast ballots at the Crossroads precinct, not counting vote-by-mail drop-offs, Navarrette said.
One voter, a local painter who declined to provide her name, said she voted for the sake of her children.
“For the first time in my life, I feel really terrible for my children, who are in their 20s,” the woman said. “I feel guilty. Future generations are going to bear the brunt of the damage that’s being set up by the current generation.”
Aside from president, races on the ballot will decide office holders at every level, from U.S. Congressional and Senate, to state legislators, to the mayor and City Council.
Michael and India Graef said while dropping off their ballots at Crossroads that they are pro-life, and were voting for candidates and issues that support that stance.
“We have a Biblical-based voting style,” Michael Graef said. The couple has four children, one of whom accompanied them to the polls in a stroller. The two grown-ups have voted in every election they can remember.
A couple miles south, at the polling place at Temple Emmanuel church on Butterfield Boulevard, Judy Mulkey said the presidential race is the most important ballot choice for her as she was walking out of the booth.
Mulkey prefers to vote “in person,” rather than by mail. “I feel like my vote counts more,” she said.
“I vote in every election, and so do my children,” said Mulkey, who added that she and her family get together for dinner the evening of every election to celebrate their democratic right.
Poll volunteers at Temple Emmanuel reported a “steady stream” of voters this morning, with no long lines but the building rarely empty of ballot casters. As of about 10:30 a.m., 59 of the precinct’s registered voters voted, according to precinct manager Rita Medina.
That polling place also had a line of voters waiting to get in by 8 a.m.
Morgan Hill voter Erik Figueroa, 30, cited state propositions that would alter current death penalty and “three strikes” laws as the key issues. A “yes” vote for proposition 34 would abolish the death penalty, and a “yes” vote on proposition 36 would amend the state’s three-strikes law to shorten sentencing guidelines for certain non-violent offenders.
Figueroa, a student in San Jose State University’s Master’s program for justice studies, said he supports abolishing the death penalty, and changing the three-strikes law.
“Three strikes is detrimental to incarceration rates and the middle class, and it needs to be abolished. The death penalty is inhumane and too costly on the state,” Figueroa said.
He also voted for Obama for president.
“He needs more time to carry out the plans he has,” Figueroa said.
Regardless of their position or party affiliation, most voters contacted this morning cited voting as a responsibility and a right that they are both obligated and enthusiastic to take part in.
“It’s the duty of the citizenship to have a say in what goes on in an election,” said Raymond Reck, a 60-year-old technical writer. He voted at the Temple Emmanuel precinct.
He added that he doesn’t declare a party affiliation or vote consistently along party lines. He did not vote for Obama (though he didn’t specify who he preferred for president), but he voted for Democrats in some of the other races.
Bill Sherry, a Morgan Hill voter and an insurance fraud investigator, said Proposition 32 was a key vote for him. A “yes” vote on that law would prohibit public unions from using employees’ and members’ dues for political purposes.
“I think public unions have become too powerful, and should be more accountable to the public,” Sherry said.
Some of Morgan Hill’s 20 polling places are located at homes in quiet neighborhoods, such as the Conti family residence on Roble Drive in south Morgan Hill. That home has been a balloting site for nearby residents for about 20 years, according to polling volunteers.
Voting booths were set up on one side of the home’s garage, while poll workers managed paperwork and lines on a table on the other side, while voters trickled in and out, typically no more than one or two at a time Tuesday morning.
Sixty-six of the precinct’s 1,280 registered voters cast ballots by 11 a.m., according to precinct manager Joyce Fiattarone.
Cecilia Ponzini cast her ballot at the precinct, citing the death penalty, three strikes, and health insurance as important issues to her.
“We have a responsibility and a right to vote for what we believe in,” Ponzini said. “I think it’s important for everybody to vote.”
Polling places will be open until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Vote-by-mail ballots can be dropped off at any polling place.
For more information or to find your polling place, visit the Santa Clara County Registrar’s website at www.sccgov.org/sites/rov
