Millions of Californians returned ballots early, but some polls still saw long lines

Turnout at physical polling places on Election Day was strong in California, producing long lines and isolated incidents of voter intimidation.

An estimated 13 million people had cast ballots before Election Day arrived, pointing to a record-breaking year for voter turnout.

But the early votes didn’t mean a weak showing at physical polling locations. In some counties, voters were still in line to vote after polls closed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded Californians’ impressive turnout, especially during a pandemic.

“CA more than doubled previous early-voting records and delivered the largest overall vote in our history,” the governor wrote on Twitter. “We demonstrated that our democratic will is stronger than those who would threaten our free and fair elections with phony threats or the fog of fear tactics.”

Lines were expected, with predicted heavy turnout and COVID-19 precautions slowing down the process, said Sam Mahood, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office.

Sacramento County officials had several heavily-trafficked vote centers during the day, as did Riverside County, Mahood said. The Secretary of State’s office said Riverside County deployed additional personnel and voting equipment to help with lines.

Jonathan Mehta Stein of Common Cause California described Riverside County as “a mess,” early in the evening, saying voters were waiting 45 minutes to two hours at about 10 locations. Voters in Riverside were still in line after 8 p.m.

In Orange County, officials investigated what appeared to be a fake vote center in Westminster. Kimberly Edds with the Orange County District Attorney’s office said there is no indication at this time that there were any disrupted ballots, but the investigation is ongoing.

Around the state, elections officials and political watchers watched for any voter intimidation or conflict at the polls.

In Northern California, the Asian Law Caucus deployed nearly 300 volunteers to monitor polling locations across 13 counties. On Tuesday afternoon, the organization was reporting language access issues as well as some intimidation and electioneering incidents.

Sabrina Chin, director of communications for the Asian Law Caucus, said poll monitors had reported missing signs for bilingual poll workers and missing language assistance and translated ballot availability, which affects immigrants and voters of color. Language access issues occurred in Contra Costa, Alameda, Solano and San Joaquin Counties, the caucus reported.

In Stanislaus County, people were wearing t-shirts with the name of a presidential candidate, the words “Red Wave,” and a “Thin Blue Line” flag within 100 feet of the voting location, Chin said.

“We escalated to the registrar’s office, who sent staff to the site to check. They confirmed that the people were gone,” she said.

Someone in Stanislaus County also tore down the Spanish-language signs that were outside a voting location directing voters where to go, she said.

The caucus also reported incidents of poll workers not wearing masks correctly. In Sonoma County, election officials removed a poll worker after a poll monitor asked about missing translated reference ballots, and the poll worker replied that “people who are voting should be able to speak English,” the caucus reported.

Anti-maskers also made some appearances at the polls on Tuesday.

In Sacramento County, a woman at a Citrus Heights voting center created a disturbance as she yelled and cursed at voters waiting in line, telling them to take off their masks. The incident occurred around 11 a.m. and the Secretary of State’s office says local election officials and law enforcement have been monitoring the situation.

Although final turnout numbers won’t be available for several weeks, Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data, Inc., said he expect to see 16 to 17 million Californians show up this year. Such a turnout number could top the 64.52% of registered voters who cast ballots in 1972, when President Richard Nixon won reelection over U.S. Sen. George McGovern.

Despite the complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic, California voters this year were motivated to deliver a resounding rebuke to President Donald Trump and threw their support behind Democrat Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris. California’s Latino voters were also particularly motivated this year, experts said, turning out in higher numbers than usual.

All California registered voters were sent a mail ballot in order to ensure that the general election was held safely amid the coronavirus pandemic. The state saw record registration this year, with more than 22 million people signed up to vote by the online Oct. 19 deadline.

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 6:26 PM.