Early returns from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office show Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith leading challenger Kevin Jensen with about a 60-percent share of votes counted so far.
The returns were released just after polling stations closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Smith and Jensen, a retired Santa Clara County sheriff’s captain, are the only two candidates running in the June 3 primary. The winner of Tuesday’s contest will be the sole candidate appearing on the November general election ballot.
The early results posted to the registrar’s website indicate about 112,000 votes have been counted as of 9 p.m., with about 68,000 of those in favor of Smith.
There are about 805,000 registered voters in Santa Clara County. Officials and experts predicted a low turnout in Tuesday’s election—perhaps lower than 35 percent. And most of those casting ballots were not expected to show up or spend much time at local polling stations.
“Of the voters who turn out in an election like this, usually around 80 percent vote-by-mail (or by drop-off) and 20 percent go to the polls,” Assistant Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles said.
Primary elections that don’t feature a U.S. Presidential candidate historically bring out less voters than more high-profile elections due to “less voter awareness and less voter enthusiasm,” Moreles explained.
The sheriff’s race was the only contested local contest in South Santa Clara County Tuesday.
The ballot also featured statewide offices including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state assembly and the local U.S. congressional district.
Live voters were elusive at the Morgan Hill polling places Tuesday, even through the evening rush.
At Crossroads Christian Church on Wright Avenue, volunteers of Precinct #3919 welcomed 24 live voters along with three times as many absentee drop-offs. Voters throughout the county are permitted to drop off their completed ballots at any polling place.
One voter who dropped in was Gar Wilson, of San Jose, who dropped off his ballot before attending his niece’s and nephew’s graduation at the church’s school.
“Efficiency in government. I’d like a government that is responsive to the needs of the people of California regardless of party affiliation,” said Wilson, who shared that he voted for Jensen for Santa Clara County Sheriff, “not because I think Laurie Smith was doing a bad job, but I think it’s time for a change in leadership.”
Precinct volunteer Eric Hudson was joined by a handful of other volunteers waiting patiently for more voters to arrive.
“This doesn’t compare with a presidential election or a November election,” Hudson said.
At the polling place at Britton Middle School on Central Avenue near Monterey Road, Apolonia Cortez, of Morgan Hill, dropped off her absentee ballot only after taking some time to do her research.
“I wanted to make sure I voted on the measures because I thought they were really important—and the Superior Court Judge,” Cortez said about 6 p.m. on her way out of the voting station. “I definitely wanted to help our veterans and make sure they got what they deserved after in the military.”
State Measure 41 asks voters to support a $600 million bond for affordable housing for veterans and their families.
Britton Middle School teacher Virginia Rush took the balloting as an educational opportunity.
Staying late cleaning her World History classroom, Rush said earlier she took her seventh grade students on a quick walk-through of the polling area. Rush showed the students how ballots were available in different languages. She explained how Tuesday’s election was different from previous contests, with the top two candidates proceeding to the November election instead of one from each party.
The untried practice of an open primary was implemented in California for the first time by the state legislature this year. In previous elections, the top vote winner in each of the top two parties advanced to the general election.
“I thought it really got them connected,” Rush said of the lesson. She also taught her students about how elections started in ancient Rome.
“That to me is what history is all about—learning about all the different civilizations and what happened in the past and how that connects with what’s happening today.”
Inside the polling station about 5:30 p.m. at P.A. Walsh—Precinct #3932—the volunteers welcomed 38 live voters with double that amount simply dropping off their ballots. There are 1,370 registered voters in that precinct.
“We expected a low turnout, but it’s been lower than we would’ve thought,” said precinct manager Bert Berson, of Morgan Hill.
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