Almost three years after voters cast their ballots in the Regional Transportation Authority election, any doubts about the outcome of that election are about to be erased.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office next week will hand count all 120,821 ballots cast in the May 2006 special election.

The count won’t be an official recount of the ballots. And regardless of the results, it won’t directly affect the outcome.

But this new hand count will accomplish something far more significant: It will either put to rest allegations of ballot tampering – or it will breathe new life into those allegations, casting an irrefutable pall over operations of the Pima County Division of Elections.

The recount will begin Monday and is expected to take most of the week. It is being conducted as part of a criminal investigation into complaints of election tampering.

It is frustrating that the hand count – the one way that tampering claims could be dismissed or verified – has taken so long to happen. Because such a count was not permitted under election law, it could be conducted only as part of a criminal investigation.

It also is unfortunate the hand count is being done in Phoenix. Because the voting took place and the allegations were raised in Pima County, it would have made it easier for involved participants to have the count here.

But the key point is this: Pima County voters soon will have the satisfaction of knowing – without a doubt – whether their votes were accurately counted.

County returns after the election showed about 60 percent of those who voted supported the transportation plan and 57.6 percent supported a 20-year, half-cent sales tax increase to pay for it.

It is unrealistic to expect that the hand count will produce numbers identical to those from the machine scan conducted the night of the election and several days following. Feeding the same ballots though scanners several times often produces slightly different results as ballots become worn or dirt, smudges and other factors affect how marks are read.

But the hand count should produce final numbers very close to those coming from the machine scanning. That would finally dismiss allegations that the result was flipped and voters actually rejected the RTA measures.

There has been no proof that happened. But computer trails of the pre-Election Day counting of early ballots have shown anomalies that have not been adequately explained.

Few things are more important to American citizens than the right to vote – and having confidence that their votes will be fairly counted. Lingering questions about the RTA election would only undermine that.

Conduct the hand count in an open and transparent way and disseminate the results fully and quickly. That will end those doubts.

South Tucson, Marana, Sahuarita primaries

Monday is the deadline for registering to vote in March 10 elections for South Tucson, Marana and Sahuarita.

Voters who have moved or changed their names since their last registration will have to re-register, according to Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez – even if the move was into a different apartment in the same complex.

The March 10 elections are South Tucson, Marana and Sahuarita primaries, plus a recall involving the Marana Water Improvement District.

For more information, call 740-4330 or visit www.recorder.pima.gov.

Early voting accounted for more than 57 percent of the 397,454 ballots cast in Pima County in the Nov. 4 general election, a growing trend both here and nationally.

A total of 79.7 percent of the 498,777 registered voters in the county cast ballots, Brad Nelson, Pima County elections director, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The supervisors voted 5-0 to accept the canvass of the election, certifying the vote results and making them official.

Nelson told the supervisors the election ran more smoothly than the Feb. 6 presidential primary preference election and the Sept. 2 primary election. The number of poll workers was increased and training was intensified in anticipation of heavy voter turnout on Election Day, Nelson said.

Early ballots cast in past general elections:

• 2000: 111,069

• 2004: 156,293

• 2008: 227,483

Last-minute early ballots and challenged ballots are culprits

Arizona races that are too close to call will remain that way until at least next week, elections officials said Friday.

The culprit is uncounted ballots that have yet to be verified by county recorders and tabulated by county elections officials.

Those are last-minute early ballots dropped off at polling places or recorders’ offices by the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline, and provisional ballots submitted by voters challenged at the polls for identification, registration or current residency questions.

About 54,000 ballots remained uncounted in Pima County, Elections Director Brad Nelson said Friday.

“We counted 15,000 early ballots today, and we’re sending another 22,000 to be counted Saturday,” Nelson said.

There are about another 9,000 ballots “in need of duplication” by the elections staff, due to issues, including voters marking beyond the boundaries of ballot ovals, before they can be processed and tabulated, Nelson said.

Also, 22,722 provisional ballots issued at the county’s 373 polling places are awaiting verification by the Pima County Recorder’s Office and being turned over to the Elections Division for tabulation, Nelson said.

Maricopa County elections officials reported similar lags in coming up with final vote totals, noting that early ballots submitted at the 11th hour and provisional ballots yet to be verified were the main reasons.

Among races up in the air are several state legislative seats and a berth on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

• Corporation Commission: Three of the agency’s five seats were contested. Democrats Paul Newman and Sandra Kennedy have won. Not settled is the race for the third seat between Democrat George Kennedy and Republican Bob Stump.

• State Senate, District 26 remained close between Republican Al Melvin and Democrat Cheryl Cage, with Melvin hanging on to about a 1,000-vote lead. State House, District 26: Republican Vic Williams and Democrat Nancy Young Wright held leads of about 1,000 votes over Republican Marilyn Zerull for the two district seats in the Arizona House.

About 35,000 uncounted Pima County ballots could affect some close Arizona Legislature races, including the District 26 Senate race between Republican Al Melvin and Democrat Cheryl Cage.

They were separated by less than 1 percentage point Wednesday afternoon.

The 35,000 early ballots, dropped off at polls Tuesday, must be reviewed for voter signatures and other eligibility criteria by the Pima County Recorder’s Office before being turned over to the Election Division for counting.

“We have tons of those,” Brad Nelson, Pima County Elections Division director, said Tuesday morning.

“It’s a heck of a lot more than we’ve had in the past.”

Verification and counting could take another several days, Nelson said.

In general, the election went much more smoothly Tuesday in Pima County than during the Sept. 2 primary election, despite a record turnout at the polls.

But ballot results in the county remained the slowest in the state, regardless of changes in procedures and poll workers training.

The latest results from the Elections Division showed that 317,925 of the county’s 498,777 eligible voters had their ballots recorded by 2:37 a.m. Wednesday. The figure does not include the 35,000 uncounted ballots.

Also too close to call was the District 26 House of Representatives race. Three percentage points separated three candidates: Democrat Donald Jorgenson and Republicans Vic Williams and Marilyn Zerull. Incumbent Democrat Nancy Young Wright appears to have won re-election.

Only a portion of those uncounted ballots would apply to the District 26 race, however.

The uncounted ballots could also affect the Arizona Corporation Commission race.

Wednesday afternoon, Democrat Sam George led Republican Bob Stump by about 1,000 votes for the third spot on the commission.

Both Nelson and County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry were under fire after the Feb. 6 presidential preference primaries and the Sept. 2 primary for voter confusion at polling places and late election vote results.

That came about in large part, both said, because of a change this year in procedures spurred by criticisms of vote- and ballot- tabulating security vulnerabilites. The complaints prompted the replacement of telephone transmission of polling place vote results from scanning machines.

Instead, the machines were transported in vehicles to the county’s ballot tabulation center at 1301 S. Mission Road.

That process was more efficient this time, Huckelberry said.

“Bringing the machines in earlier helped immensely,” Huckelberry said as poll workers unloaded the devices at the Mission Road tabulation center.

The polling and vote tabulation changes were enacted by the county last year during what would become a successful lawsuit by the Pima County Democratic Party.

Democrats were irked that the slow ballot results of the previous two elections this year were blamed in large part by Huckelberry on the elimination of transmitting vote results from polling places via modem to the Mission Road tabulations headquarters.

“Last night showed that the modems were not the cause” for the late results of the prior elections this year, Vince Rabago, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, said Wednesday.

“It was how they got the scanners from place to place” in the two prior elections, he said.

Rabago said he had not been briefed as of Wednesday morning by Democratic poll-watchers and could not offer a definitive assessment of the county’s Tuesday performance.

Not that there were no glitches at the polls Tuesday.

About 80 students at the University of Arizona’s School of Law participated in a poll-watch operation and hot line under a national poll observation program run by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“It was pretty touch-and-go in some precincts,” said Emily Kane, one of the UA coordinators of the operation.

The center had about 100 phone calls Tuesday of voter complaints at county polling places, she said.

Statewide, the program received about 1,000 such calls.

“They weren’t getting the right instructions” for provisional ballots, Kane said.

Others complained about boxes for early ballots at polling places being full, she said.

Election Day in Tucson

Election Day in Tucson

Lines of voters spill out of some polling places in the early hours of Election Day, while local Congressional candidates make last minute campaign appearances.

Producer: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

Related: Payday loans, TUSD override, presidential race get voters to the polls

Tucsonan Derek Hyers’ excitement about the presidential election was matched by the frustration he felt trying to understand some of the statewide propositions.

“My friends usually come to ask me about stuff like this,” Hyers, 39, said at the Sabbar Shrine Temple, 450 S. Tucson Blvd., where he voted Tuesday. “I can always help them with national issues, but with some of these propositions I could not help them.”

The one that floored him the most was Proposition 200. He said misleading television ads made it sound like you were voting to reform payday loan centers when you were actually voting to extend their stay in the state.

“The ads say ‘Vote yes to get back at payday loan companies,’” he said. “I voted against the extension.”

Transportation worker Bobby Barela, 42, voted for Proposition 403, the Tucson Unified School District budget override, particularly because one of his kids is a student in the system. “They obviously need more money for the schools,” he said.

State employee Ron Bourgault, 54, said enough was enough with giving TUSD more cash.

“I have no kids in the schools and am paying a TUSD tax anyway,” he said. He also voted no on legislative raises and against making a ban on gay marriage part of the Arizona Constitution.

At Temple Emanu-El, 255 N. Country Club Road, Maurice Grossman, 81, a retired UA art professor, voted for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“We need a government that will embrace a more moderate view,” said the registered Democrat. “So many of the policies for the last eight years have been extremely far conservative.

“We have to get a government that will bring us back to the truth and do away with all this endless secrecy. We don’t know what the government is planning for us from day to day, what rights we are going to lose.

“We don’t have to be the bully of the world. We have to work along with the world to solve our problems. I want my country back. I want my flag back. I want my freedoms back.”

Grossman also voted for Prop. 403.

“If we want bright and creative children, we have to give them creative programs,” he said. “We forget creativity of the children helps with the child’s total education.

Voting for change

Change for 37-year-old hairstylist Trisha McBride meant voting Tuesday for a Democrat and a Republican at St. Demetrius Greek Church, 1145 E. Fort Lowell Road.

The Democrat who has lived in Tucson 25 years voted for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“I can’t imagine (John) McCain getting it,” she said of the Arizona Republican with a hearty laugh, “or his running mate, for sure.”

But she picked Republican state Senate President Tim Bee to replace freshman U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, in the 8th Congressional District.

“I’m going against Giffords,” said the Democrat who has lived in Tucson 25 years. “We need change.”

Gay marriage was fine with McBride, who voted against Proposition 102, which would define marriage by state constitutional amendment as between one man and one woman.

She also said “yes” to the Tucson Unified School District budget override because two of her kids are in TUSD schools.

More “yes” votes for Prop. 403 came from voters at First Christian Church, 740 E. Speedway Blvd., where many voters were University of Arizona students.

“I went to a school with a very low budget,” said Karla Velazquez, 19, who just moved from Phoenix to Tucson to attend UA. “Education is key.”

Obama was her presidential choice, mainly because she agreed with many of his issues. “And he’s pro-choice,” she added.

Presidential choices

Ed Federico, a native Tucsonan and lifelong Democrat, registered as a Republican for this election and voted Tuesday for McCain.

The Pima County probation officer for juveniles has seen a shift in his 16 years with the courts.

He has watched as the youth he deals with leaned further and further away from personal responsibility and more toward a “you-owe-me-something attitude,” Federico said after voting at Mission Manor Elementary School near Nogales Highway and Bilby Road.

He feared that voting for a left-leaning Barack Obama administration would further you-owe-me-somethingism.

The GOP, Federico believes, represents personal responsibility and a desire to keep taxes down. He voted as much for the party as the man, he said.

Not so, for Frank Llanes, 50, who voted for Obama.

“I think we need a change from the current ‘party direction,’ so to speak,” said Llanes, who is a native Tucsonan and a pharmacy technician.

Though he leaned Democratic from the start of the election season, Llanes never entirely ruled out voting for McCain – whom he considers a better alternative than other Republicans.

Catherine Beauchamp, 32, voted for McCain because she likes his tough stand on the border, where he supported the use of National Guard troops.

The corporate sales rep also doesn’t trust Obama, she said.

“I’m in sales, and Obama just sounds like a salesman,” she said.

United on marriage

Llanes, Federico and Beauchamp voted for Proposition 102, which would amend state constitution to solely recognize marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

Llanes realizes the law already covers that, but amending the constitution would make it harder to change, he said.

Beauchamp voted yes simply because she didn’t have a stand one way or the other and figures it’s best not to change anything if that’s the case, she said.

No to ‘bimbo’; yes to TUSD

Keeping a “bimbo” out of the presidential office was the main reason Lauren Ross, 22, and Natalie Britten, 20, came to vote at the Knights of Columbus hall, 601 S. Tucson Blvd.

“I would much rather not see a man who is going to die in office and leave a twit for our president,” said Britten, a student, file clerk and registered Democrat who voted for Obama as president instead of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“Yes,” agreed Ross, a drafter with no political party. “His running mate is a bimbo.”

The other hot topic for the two was Proposition 102. Both were for gay marriages and said that either way they voted didn’t matter in Arizona as it was already against the law in the state.

Both wanted more money for education and voted for Prop. 403, a budget override for Tucson Unified School District. “Overall, money is needed for education everywhere,” said Ross, who is fairly new to Tucson and went to school in Utah.

Longtime Tucsonan Britten attended TUSD schools but said she only learned because she wanted to.

“I work with a girl who graduated from a TUSD school who asked me what was going on in the city of Colorado,” she said. “She thought a lot of states were cities.”

Obama has direction

Sarah and Garrett Flora, registered independents who both grew up in Tucson, voted for Obama at St. Demetrius Greek Church.

“He has a clearer idea of where he wants to take the country,” said Garrett Flora, a 27-year-old Best Buy employee. “McCain’s tactic was to attack.”

Flora’s wife, Sarah, a 28-year-old restaurant server, agreed.

“Candidates should tell us what they can do for us, not what is wrong with the other person,” she said. “Plus we are not happy with how the last eight years have been.”

Mudslinging is also the reason both opted for Giffords over Bee in CD8.

The couple, married two years, also said gay marriages were fine with them.

“It’s not really my right to decide what people can or cannot do,” Sarah Flores said.

“Another con is that the ban is an amendment,” her husband added, “so people in the future cannot change it.”

Students split

University of Arizona student Mason Quick, 22, was quick to say gay marriage was OK, mainly because his sister is gay.

He chose McCain because of his energy policy.

“I like him,” he said. Quick did not vote at all on the congressional race, stating he knows nothing about it.

UA student and odd job worker Ross Cournoyer, 23, a registered independent, went Democrat for both the presidential and congressional races.

“I favor Obama’s domestic policy,” said Cournoyer, for whom environmental issues are a top concern. “Mostly, I just don’t want more of the same.”

He said Prop. 102 seemed unnecessary, since gay marriage was already illegal in the state.

He gave Prop. 403 a hearty thumbs up. “Even though I didn’t go to school here,” said the two-year Tucson resident, “I will usually vote to increase a budget for education.”

‘None of the above’

Dan Lyons didn’t want to say Tuesday morning who got his vote in the presidential election.

The native Tucsonan and registered Republican, 77, didn’t like any of the choices.

“I would have voted, if I had the chance, for none of the above,” said the real estate broker.

Then if “None of the Above” wins, candidates on the ballot should be banned from public office, Lyons said with a wry grin after casting his ballot at Comfort Suites, 7007 E. Tanque Verde Road.

Decisions, decisions

Stafani Auclair, 28, voted for Obama, but the registered Libertarian didn’t make up her mind very long ago.

“I was very in the middle (throughout the campaign),” she said Tuesday. “I was still in the middle this morning.”

Auclair had a hard time making up her mind because there is so much going on for the nation right now, with the war and a failing economy. People want change, but they are unsure what change to look for, she said.

“I think we’re in a very strange time right now,” said Auclair, an administrator at Tucson Electric Power.

Brandi Gleason, a 41-year-old stay-at-home mom, had no trouble making a choice in the presidential race.

She voted for McCain, in part because she loves vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s strong Christian views and right-to-life stance, she said.

“I think she will make changes,” Gleason said.

Gleason voted for Bee in the CD 8 race, believing Giffords, the incumbent, would raise taxes.

“I just think higher taxes would kill us,” Gleason said.

Auclair followed her heart in that race, voting for Libertarian candidate Paul Davis despite knowing he is very unlikely to win. She voted against the marriage amendment, Proposition 102.

“I believe everyone should be able to get married,” she said.

Lyons, a longtime friend of Giffords’ parents, bucked his normal Republican trend and voted for her in the congressional race. He declined to give his vote on Prop. 102, saying only that he believes in some sort of registration for same-sex couples but not marriage.

“They should have the benefits that go to married couples,” he said.

Sites go with ebb & flow

Lines to vote were long early Tuesday at five polling places on Tucson’s Southwest, West, North and far Northeast sides and in Oro Valley, but few voters were waiting at two East Side and downtown polling places.

Though elections officials were predicting turnout in excess of 80 percent of registered voters here and elsewhere in Arizona, there were few voters at Lincoln Park’s Clements Center, 8155 E Poinciana Drive.

At 7:30 a.m., voters at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 850 N. 11th Ave., were checked in and out the door within 15 minutes.

Voters stood patiently in lines at Warren Elementary School, 3505 W. Milton Road; Church of the Painted Hills, 3295 W. Speedway Blvd.; and Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive.

Vehicles waiting for parking spaces at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oro Valley at 6:30 a.m. lined up on Arrowsmith Drive in front of the church, where Jackie Boorse, 24, a University of Arizona senior, waited an hour to cast her vote.

In Precinct 367 in the Tanque Verde Valley, on the far Northeast Side, a packed parking lot around 7 a.m. belied the swift, efficient voting under way inside. At least a half-dozen additional voting machines and an expanded crew of election officials kept voters moving through without any lines.

2 of different minds

At Clements Center, David Wilson, 59, was in and out in little more than half an hour. The disabled maintenance man and registered Republican voted for McCain and Bee.

Wilson voted for Proposition 102 protecting marriage between one man and one woman.

“I grew up that way. My parents believed that way, and I have always believed that way,” Wilson said.

Joe Tharpe, a 40-year-old law enforcement officer, chose incumbent Giffords in CD 8 because challenger Bee has a record of voting in the state Senate against law enforcement.

Tharpe chose Obama over McCain.

“I think we can’t afford another four years of Bush, and that’s what I think McCain is going to give us,” Tharpe said. “I think Obama represents the best chance we have of change in this country.”

And Tharpe voted against Proposition 102, saying, “We already have a definition of what marriage is in this state.”

Sisters share views

Kerah Botham, 18, voted against Proposition 102.

“I’m fine with gay marriage. It doesn’t really affect me if people are married or not,” the first-time voter said.

Botham’s sister – Bryanna, 20 – also voted against Proposition 102.

“We don’t even have a legal definition of what a man and a woman is, so it seems kind of odd to have a legal definition of marriage,” she said.

The siblings agreed in the presidential and congressional races, both voting for Giffords and Obama.

The same, only different

The mother-daughter team of Gretchen and Lindy Hall agreed on most things at the polls – except gay marriage.

The two registered Republicans, in Tucson for decades, both opted for McCain as president and Bee in CD 8 with their Tuesday morning votes at Catalina Foothills High School.

Daughter Lindy Hall, a 19-year-old Pizza Hut employee, said gay marriage was OK.

Mom Gretchen Hall, a schoolteacher and musician, said moral values rules all her voting choices and gave Proposition 102 a hearty yes.

“I don’t want the state to have to pay for insurance and other costs for a partner,” said the 58-year-old woman who opted for McCain because of his conservatism and his pledge to reduce government spending.

“Relationships with a partner aren’t as consistent, but then not every marriage is consistent,” the elder Hall said.

Her daughter said she voted for McCain and Bee because she values stability, responsibility and someone with experience.

2 for individual rights

Gay marriage was OK for registered independent Walter Lowery, a 54-year-old truck driver who has been in Tucson for about a year.

“People should have the right to do whatever they want,” he said in line at the high school. “It doesn’t affect me.”

Foreign policy was his top issue, and he favored McCain for his experience.

“I don’t really trust Obama,” Lowery said. “He’s inexperienced. I really don’t think he’s ready.”

He had yet to choose which congressional candidate would get his vote. At the end of a long line, he had plenty of time to decide.

Time for something new was Democrat Chris Green’s rationale for voting for Obama.

The 57-year-old jeweler, in Tucson for half a century, didn’t go for a new face in Congress, however. He stuck with freshman U.S. Rep. Giffords.

“She’s doing a fine job,” he said.

As for gay marriage, that’s fine with him.

“Everybody ought to be able to do what they want,” he said.

Get out the vote

When Boorse finished voting in Oro Valley at 7:45 a.m., the line had diminished to about 35 people and she went home to get her 20-year-old brother Ryan.

“It’s his first time voting and I told him he needed to get over here before the line gets long again,” Boorse said. “It’s too important for him to not vote and I knew he wouldn’t wait in line.”

Citizen staff members Billie Stanton and Fernanda Echávarri contributed to this report. Share your voting experience – good or bad – with the Tucson Citizen. Comment here or e-mail news@tucsoncitizen.com

The nation votes

The nation votes

Images from around America, as voters lined up to cast ballots and politicians delivered last stump speeches.

Producer: DYLAN SMITH/Tucson Citizen

Slideshow #2

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Waiting in line – at Starbucks

Richelle Wilson voted by mail this election, but she still was waiting in a long line Tuesday morning.

The 38-year-old homemaker was one of about 20 motorists idling in the drive-through lane of the Starbucks at Ina and Oracle roads waiting to receive free coffee.

“I heard they’d give you coffee if you voted and I voted by mail,” Wilson said. “I don’t have the (I voted) sticker, but I voted! I’m very proud to be an American.”

Starbucks was running a national promotion giving away a tall, brewed coffee – their smallest size – to customers at participating stores to celebrate Election Day.

Workers at the University Boulevard Starbucks adjacent to the University of Arizona had a row of coffees already poured, capped and ready to go for the people crowding the coffee-shop lobby.

RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON

rshorton@tucsoncitizen.com (rshorton@tucsoncitizen.com)

———

RESULTS MAP

Get updated national election results at tucsoncitizen.com/election

By Ryn Gargulinski, B. William Poole, Renee Schafer Horton

Mail-in ballots unfinished or left at home cause delays

Mail-in ballots proved a blessing and a curse on Election Day, but overall few voting problems were reported across Pima County, an election official said.

Elections Director Brad Nelson said the Pima County Elections Department had more than the usual six workers per polling place.

“We’ve upped that to eight people in most places and as many as 10 or 12 in some places,” Nelson said.

Though early mail-in ballots will mean roughly 150,000 fewer voters to process Tuesday, voters who hadn’t mailed them in and didn’t bring them to the polls created a bit of delay for themselves.

Voters who left their mail-in ballots at home had to wait while election workers verified that they hadn’t already voted.

“People got upset that they had to wait longer for us to set them up with the special ballot,” said Robin Colburn, a voting inspector at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oro Valley. “I didn’t think they understood the importance that they didn’t vote twice.”

At Lincoln Park’s Clements Center near Irvington and Pantano roads, Bryanna Botham, 20, showed up with a mail-in ballot but no envelope. The envelope is required to drop off mail-in ballots, she was told.

“I had to go back home,” she said.

Nelson is expecting a surge of voters after the business day ends around 4 p.m., but he thinks the additional staff will help get votes counted faster than the last election, when totals were not available until the wee hours of the morning.

“The wildcard is how long the lines are at the polling places at 7 o’clock,” Nelson said.

Anyone in line at 7 p.m. will be permitted to vote.

Share your voting experience – good or bad – with the Tucson Citizen. Comment here or e-mail news@tucsoncitizen.com (news@tucsoncitizen.com)
Election Day in Tucson

Election Day in Tucson

Lines of voters spill out of some polling places in the early hours of Election Day, while local Congressional candidates make last minute campaign appearances.

Producer: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

By B. William Poole, Renee Schafer Horton

County Attorney LaWall, Sheriff Dupnik win new terms

Democrat Sharon Bronson won a fourth term on the Pima County Board of Supervisors, saying a tough economy and tight budgets will make the next two years difficult.

Her win Tuesday shut down a chance for Republicans to take control of the county governing body for the first time since January 1997.

Bronson defeated Republican challenger Barney Brenner – for a second time – in the race for the District 3 supervisor’s seat. Then-first-term incumbent Bronson narrowly defeated Brenner, a retired business owner, for the seat in 2000.

Bronson spent little time celebrating her latest win.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of years,” Bronson said Tuesday night. “We’ve got some real challenges ahead of us financially.

“We’re going to really have to rely on regional cooperation and sustainability.”

Bronson versus Brenner was the only contested race for a seat on the Board of Supervisors.

Republican Ann Day defeated challenger Joe Higgins in District 1 in the Sept. 2 party primary and faced no general election opposition.

Democrat Ramón Valadez beat party challenger Robert Robuck in his party’s primary and had no Republican takers in the general election.

Republican Ray Carroll, District 4, and Board Chairman Richard Elías, a District 5 Democrat, faced no primary or general election challengers.

Bronson’s win likely denies Carroll, the longest serving board Republican, a shot at the board chairmanship, which historically goes to the majority party.

Bronson ran on her support for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, and a record of constituent services.

Brenner campaigned on his role of taxpayer advocate, complaining that annual county spending has far outpaced population growth over the past decade or so.

In other contested county races:

Incumbent Democratic Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall won a fourth term.

LaWall defeated Republican challenger Brad Roach, a former lead prosecutor in her office, and Green Party candidate Claudia Ellquist.

“Every four years I have a job interview. Every four years, I have to show the voters of Pima County why they should rehire me,” she said.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik, a Democrat, handily beat Republican challenger Harry Shaw for a sixth term as the county’s top law enforcement officer.
Election Day in Tucson

Election Day in Tucson

Lines of voters spill out of some polling places in the early hours of Election Day, while local Congressional candidates make last minute campaign appearances.

Producer: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

Center: Pima can’t count votes by disabled last

The Arizona Center for Disability Law has filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department, challenging Pima County’s intention to count ballots of voters with disabilities last.

Peri Jude Radecic, the center’s executive director, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s stated intention violates federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Radecic initially wrote Huckelberry on Friday, telling him that his plan to count the ballots of voters with disabilities last “is not acceptable and violates federal law.” Huckelberry had told the county Board of Supervisors on Oct. 3 that votes cast by disabled people on touch screen machines won’t be counted until Wednesday.

Radecic’s letter to Huckelberry said touch screen voting machines “are in place to permit individuals with disabilities to vote privately and independently.”

Putting such voters at the back of the line treats them differently, and sends the message to them “that your vote is not important and that people with disabilities remain at the back of the bus,” she wrote.

Huckelberry had told the supervisors only 97 votes were cast on the touch screen devices during the Sept. 2 primary.

“Since so few votes are cast . . . processing and vote tabulation . . . will be deferred from election night to the following day,” Huckelberry told the supervisors.

According to Huckelberry, about 114,000 primary ballots were cast on scannable paper.

In a reply Monday, Huckelberry called Radecic’s concern “factually unfounded.” Vote tabulation will be processed in sequence, he said, because simultaneous processing “has and would continue to contribute to significant vote tabulation delays.

“Every vote cast in the general election will be counted. . . . In the canvass, every vote will be counted – those that are cast on traditional paper ballots designed for scanning, as well as those electronically cast on the touch screen devices.”

In her complaint to the Justice Department’s voting rights and disability rights sections, Radecic said it’s difficult enough encouraging people with disabilities to vote and to believe that their vote matters without pronouncements such as Huckelberry’s.

She urged federal officials to monitor the election and Pima County to force compliance with federal laws concerning participation of those with disabilities in the electoral process.

The nation votes

The nation votes

Images from around America, as voters lined up to cast ballots and politicians delivered last stump speeches.

Producer: DYLAN SMITH/Tucson Citizen

Related: Local groups getting out the vote

There were no idle hands Tuesday in the UAVotes office as members scrambled to remind University of Arizona students about their responsibility to vote and drove shuttles to get them to the polls.

Daniel Hernandez, a political science and biology freshman and an intern with UAVotes, spent the morning helping organize shuttles from Old Main that provided UA students a free ride to and from their official polling place Pima County.

UA was classified as an early polling site last week, and about 3,000 students, staff and faculty voted then.

But that site closed on Saturday, leaving about 35,000 students who hadn’t voted. On Election Day, people have to vote at the polling site in the precinct where they are registered.

“Because of that, we have the shuttles,” said Hernandez. “We’re partnering with (ASUA) Safe Ride and using their cars, sending six shuttles every half hour with one to four (student voters) in each shuttle.”

On Tucson’s Northwest Side. a team of 10 volunteers from Mi Familia Vota, or My Family Votes, went door to door “making sure people actually got up and voted,” said Amy McQuillen, a spokesman for the organization that focuses on helping immigrants improve their lives and communities.

“Our team was out there on street corners since 8 a.m., holding up signs in English and Spanish, because we really want people to vote,” she said.

Some of the signs read “Please go vote, your vote is your future,” Quillen said.

Volunteers also reminded people who had not voted where their polling place was.

By 11:30 a.m. at UA, Hernandez said he’d moved to the “logistics side of things,” sending out e-mails to UA students who had filled out “Pledge to Vote” cards on campus in October.

“We’re sending out one final e-mail to people to remind them to vote, tell them about taking ID and letting them know about the shuttle,” he said.

The shuttles began at 8 a.m. and will make their last run at 5 p.m. UAVotes will host an election-return-watching party beginning at 6 p.m. at Gentle Ben’s, 865 E. University Boulevard.

Hernandez, 18, said he was really excited about the election and being able to vote for the first time.

“I’ve been interested in the political process since I was about 10,” he said. “So when I got here, I wanted to be as involved as I could. I basically live in the (UAVotes) office.”

UAVotes is a coalition of the Arizona Students Association, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona and the Arizona Public Interest Research Group.

Mi Familia Vota is a collaboration among several national and local organizations, including the Service Employees International Union and ACORN, a national social justice organization.
Election Day in Tucson

Election Day in Tucson

Lines of voters spill out of some polling places in the early hours of Election Day, while local Congressional candidates make last minute campaign appearances.

Producer: RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

Slideshow #2

By Fernanda Echavarri, Renee Schafer Horton

Updated 4 a.m. – A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was narrowly defeated in Pima county, although it passed statewide.

Other propositions, ranging from a pay raise for legislators to broader rights for payday lenders failed statewide.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords easily maintained her lead in the Congressional District 8 race, as did U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva in District 7.

U.S. Sen. John McCain carried Arizona in his presidential nomination bid.

PIMA COUNTY RESULTS

PRESIDENT

69.8%

Bob Barr (L) 1,366 – 0.49%

John McCain (R) 126,410- 45.50%

Ralph Nader (G) 1,237 – 0.50%

Barack Obama (D) 147,058 – 52.94%

U.S. HOUSE

District 7

79.4%

Raúl Grijalva (D) (i) 49,588 – 72.46%

Raymond Petrulsky (L) 2,589 -23.60%

Joe Sweeney (R) 16,153 – 23.60%

District 8

65.1%

Tim Bee (R) 77,343 – 40.90%

Paul Davis (G) 4,319 – 2.28%

Gabrielle Giffords (D) (i) 107,364 – 56.77%

ARIZONA RESULTS

U.S. President

PRESIDENT

91.6%

Bob Barr (L) 10,059 – 0.6%

John McCain (R) 981,933 – 53.9%

Ralph Nader (G) 8,839 – 0.5%

Barack Obama (D) 819,762 – 45.0%

U.S. House

District 1

96.2%

Sydney Hay, GOP 98,040 – 40.0%

Ann Kirkpatrick, Dem 135,524 – 55.3%

Thane Eichenauer, Lib 3,169 – 1.3%

Brent Maupin, NPD 8,264 – 3.4%

District 2

93.3%

Trent Franks, GOP (i) 163,093- 59.4%

John Thrasher, Dem 102,318 – 37.3%

William Crum, Grn 2,889 – 1.1%

Powell Gammill, Lib 6,374 – 2.3%

District 3

98.8%

John Shadegg, GOP (i) 117,283 – 53.8%

Bob Lord, Dem 92,424 – 42.4%

Michael Shoen, Lib 8,196 – 3.8%

District 4

96.3%

Ed Pastor, Dem (i) 70,110 – 72.0%

Don Karg, GOP 20,886 – 21.4%

Joe Cobb, Lib 2,948- 3.0%

Rebecca DeWitt, Grn 3,432 – 3.5%

District 5

96.4

Harry Mitchell, Dem (i) 118,448 – 53.2%

David Schweikert, GOP 97,058 – 43.6%

Warren Severin, Lib 7,104 – 3.2%

District 6

100.0%

Jeff Flake, GOP (i) 170,302 – 61.9%

Rebecca Schneider, Dem 96,619 – 35.1%

Rick Biondi, Lib 8,347 – 3.0%

District 7

87.0%

Raul Grijalva, Dem (i) 93,786 – 62.8%

Joseph Sweeney, GOP 49,690 – 33.3%

Raymond Petrulsky, Lib 5,916 – 4.0%

District 8

73.0%

Gabrielle Giffords, Dem (i) 131,980 – 54.9%

Tim Bee, GOP 102,514 – 42.7%

Paul Davis, Lib 5,863- 2.4%

Corporation Commission

4-year terms

91.9%

Marian McClure, GOP 704,788 – 15.6%

Sam George, Dem 733,929 – 16.2%

Barry Wong, GOP 714,136 – 15.8%

Paul Newman, Dem 818,399 – 18.1%

Bob Stump, GOP 736,765 – 16.3%

Sandra Kennedy, Dem 819,513 – 18.1%

3 to be elected.

State Senate – Contested

District 1

100.0%

Steve Pierce, GOP 52,019 – 61.1%

Pat Chancerelle, Dem 33,056 – 38.9%

District 2

83.5%

Albert Hale, Dem (i) 33,433 – 72.1%

Royce Jenkins, GOP 12,965 – 27.9%

District 3

91.6%

Mary Landahl, Dem 21,132 – 37.2%

Ron Gould, GOP (i) 35,646- 62.8%

District 4

98.1%

Jack Harper, GOP (i) 59,905 – 60.6%

Robert Boehlke, Dem 38,996 – 39.4%

District 5

96.4%

Sylvia Tenney Allen, GOP 32,379 – 54.2%

Bill Jeffers, Dem 27,327 – 45.8%

District 6

97.0%

Jim Larson, Dem 25,075 – 40.6%

Pamela Gorman, GOP (i) 36,663 – 59.4%

District 7

100.0%

Jim Waring, GOP (i) 36,991 – 57.5%

Lisa Black, Dem 25,452 – 39.5%

Dennis Grenier, Lib 1,920 – 3.0%

District 9

100.0%

Robert Burns, GOP (i) 33,282 – 55.8%

Karen Price, Dem 26,341- 44.2%

District 10

98.2%

Linda Gray, GOP (i) 22,129 – 55.7%

Martin Monroe, Dem 17,629 – 44.3%

District 11

100.0%

Barbara Leff, GOP (i) 34,699 – 54.3%

Ann Wallack, Dem 29,216 – 45.7%

District 12

97.4%

John Nelson, GOP 41,569 – 52.7%

Angela Cotera, Dem 37,257 – 47.3%

District 14

97.4%

Mike Renzulli, Lib 2,651 – 17.3%

Debbie McCune-Davis, Dem (i) 12,691 – 82.7%

District 16

93.3

Leah Landrum, Dem (i) 25,652 – 73.3%

Daniel Veres, GOP 9,363 – 26.7%

District 17

100.0%

Jesse Hernandez, GOP 18,106 – 38.8%

Meg Burton-Cahill, Dem (i) 28,510 – 61.2%

District 18

100.0%

Russell Pearce, GOP 19,510 – 56.1%

Judah Nativio, Dem 15,250- 43.9%

District 20

93.2%

John Huppenthal, GOP (i) 34,280 – 56.2%

Ted Maish, Dem 26,723 – 43.8%

District 23

95.5%

Rebecca Rios, Dem (i) 43,371 – 56.6%

Andre Campos, GOP 33,318 – 43.4%

District 24

93.9%

Amanda Aguirre, Dem (i) 21,285 – 75.5%

Jack Kretzer, Grn 6,923 – 24.5%

District 25

87.2%

Manny Alvarez, Dem 26,364 – 51.9%

Mary Ann Black, GOP 24,458 – 48.1%

District 26

66.7%

Al Melvin, GOP 33,986 – 50.2%

Cheryl Cage, Dem 33,718 – 49.8%

District 27

82.6%

Jorge Luis Garcia, Dem (i) 28,157 – 66.6%

Bob Westerman, GOP 14,109 – 33.4%

District 30

98.0%

Jonathan Paton, GOP 53,670 – 59.7%

Georgette Valle, Dem 36,185 – 40.3%

State House – Contested

District 1

100.0%

Andy Tobin, GOP (i) 46,109 – 36.4%

Lucy Mason, GOP (i) 48,863 – 38.6%

Dennis Grittner, Dem 31,722 – 25.0%

2 to be elected.

District 3

91.6%

Nancy McLain, GOP (i) 31,158 – 37.9%

Pamela Durbin, Dem 20,864 – 25.4%

Doris Goodale, GOP 30,197 – 34.7%

2 to be elected.

District 4

98.1%

Judy Burges, GOP (i) 57,373 – 31.6%

Tom Boone, GOP (i) 56,935 – 31.4%

Paula Forster, Dem 32,265 – 17.8%

Sue Dolphin, Dem 34,894 – 19.2%

2 to be elected.

District 5

96.4%

Jack Brown, Dem (i) 28,744 – 32.2%

Bill Konopnicki, GOP (i) 33,646 – 37.7%

Barbara Brewer, GOP 26,838 – 30.1%

2 to be elected.

District 6

97.0%

Sam Crump, GOP (i) 33,808 – 30.6%

Jack Doody, Dem 23,792 – 21.5%

Carl Seel, GOP 23,792 – 27.1%

Teri Conrad, Dem 22,978 – 20.8%

2 to be elected.

District 7

100.0%

Nancy Barto, GOP (i) 36,948 – 36.4%

Ray Barnes, GOP (i) 32,061 – 31.6%

James Iannuzo, Lib 7,107 – 7.0%

Jeanne Lunn, Dem 25,408 – 25.0%

2 to be elected.

District 8

92.1%

John Kavanagh, GOP (i) 39,393 – 35.2%

Michele Reagan, GOP (i) 42,792 – 38.2%

Stephanie Rimmer, Dem 29,847 – 26.6%

2 to be elected.

District 9

98.3%

Rick Murphy, GOP (i) 29,559 – 27.7%

Debbie Lesko, GOP – 31,009 – 29.0%

Shawn Hutchinson, Dem 23,026 – 21.6%

Sheri Van Horsen, Dem 23,211 – 21.7%

2 to be elected.

District 10

98.2%

Jim Weiers, GOP (i) 18,563 – 25.3%

Jackie Thrasher, Dem (i) 17,625 – 24.1%

Margarite Dale, Grn 1,805 – 2.5%

Scott Gibson, Lib 2,128 – 2.9%

Lamont Lovejoy, Dem 14,840 – 20.3%

Doug Quelland, GOP 18,320 – 25.0%

2 to be elected.

District 11

100.0%

Adam Driggs, GOP (i) 31,106 – 33.8%

Jon Altmann, GOP 29,566 – 32.2%

Eric Meyer, Dem 31,258 – 34.0%

2 to be elected.

District 12

97.4%

Jerry Weiers, GOP (i) 37,123 – 26.4%

Eve Nunez, Dem 31,780 – 22.6%

David Scanlon, Dem 30,358 – 21.6%

Celeste Castorena, Grn 4,549 – 3.2%

Steve Montenegro, GOP 36,686 – 26.1%

2 to be elected.

District 13

97.7%

Martha Garcia, Dem (i) 13,847 – 39.9%

Steve Gallardo, Dem (i) 12,929 – 37.3%

Timothy Schwartz, GOP 7,895 – 22.8%

2 to be elected.

District 15

100.0%

David Lujan, Dem (i) 18,733 – 40.1%

Kyrsten Sinema, Dem (i) 17,890 – 38.3%

Ed Hedges, GOP 10,124 – 21.7%

2 to be elected.

District 16

97.8%

Cloves Campbell, Dem (i) 20,603 – 39.2%

Ben Miranda, Dem (i) 22,571 – 43.1%

Raymond Williams, GOP 8,838 – 17.7%

2 to be elected.

District 17

98.6%

David Schapira, Dem (i) 26,193 – 31.1%

Ed Ableser, Dem (i) 23,994 – 28.5%

Wes Waddle, GOP 14,936 – 17.8%

Mark Thompson, GOP 18,966 – 22.6%

2 to be elected.

District 18

98.0%

Steve Court, GOP 17,217 – 31.0%

Tammie Pursley, Dem 14,296 – 25.7%

Joe Brown, NPD 6,945 – 12.5%

Cecil Ash, GOP 17,094 – 30.8%

2 to be elected.

District 19

100.0%

Kirk Adams, GOP (i) 33,222 – 35.7%

Rich Crandall, GOP (i) 35,984 – 38.6%

Kathy Romano, Dem 23,938 – 25.7%

2 to be elected.

District 20

98.3%

John McComish, GOP (i) 29,282 – 34.8%

Jeff Dial, GOP 29,282 – 32.4%

Rae Waters, Dem 29,615 – 32.8%

2 to be elected.

District 21

98.7%

Steve Yarbrough, GOP (i) 45,478 – 38.3%

Warde Nichols, GOP (i) 37,194 – 31.4%

Phil Hettmansperger, Dem 35,940 – 30.3%

2 to be elected.

District 22

100.0%

Andy Biggs, GOP (i) 48,157 – 37.2%

Glenn Ray, Dem 35,211 – 37.2%

Laurin Hendrix, GOP 46,132 – 35.6%

2 to be elected.

District 23

95.5%

Barbara McGuire, Dem (i) 34,335 – 25.8%

Ernest Bustamante, Dem 32,500 – 24.4%

John Fillmore, GOP 32,893 – 24.7%

Frank Pratt, GOP 33,320 – 25.0%

2 to be elected.

District 24

93.9%

Lynne Pancrazi, Dem (i) 15,558 – 36.0%

Theresa Ulmer, Dem (i) 13,044 – 30.2%

Russ Jones, GOP 15,478- 34.0%

2 to be elected.

District 25

85.3%

Richard Boyer, Dem 20,891 – 24.1%

Timathy Davies, GOP 18,571 – 21.4%

Patricia Fleming, Dem 21.4 – 28.4%

David Stevens, GOP 22,630 – 26.1%

2 to be elected.

District 26

66.7%

Nancy Young Wright, Dem (i) 32,511 – 26.1%

Donald Jorgensen, Dem 28,960 – 23.3%

Vic Williams, GOP 31,790 – 25.6%

Marilyn Zerull, GOP 31,082 – 25.0%

2 to be elected.

District 27

82.6%

Olivia Cajero Bedford, Dem (i) 25,880 – 36.9%

Phil Lopes, Dem (i) 24,265 – 34.6%

Mark Phelps, Lib 4,766 – 6.8%

J.D. Schechter, GOP 11,732 – 16.7%

Kent Solberg, Grn 3,451 – 4.9%

2 to be elected.

District 29

96.6%

Daniel Patterson, Dem 20,763 – 33.1%

Matt Heinz, Dem 20,097 – 32.0%

Juan Ciscomani, GOP 9,570 – 15.2%

Pat Kilburn, GOP 12,352- 19.7%

2 to be elected.

District 30

98.0%

Andrea Dalessandro, Dem 41,211- 31.1%

David Gowan, GOP 46,104 – 34.8%

Frank Antenori, GOP 45,295 – 34.2%

2 to be elected.

SCHOOL BOARDS

Flowing Wells

100.0%

Thomas Jacobs, 4,211- 26.33%

James Love, 4,271 – 26.70%

Jeretta Douglas, 3,884 – 24.28%

Bobbi Patterson, 3,571 – 22.32%

3 to be elected.

Marana

100.0%

Amy Autret, 6,219- 10.97%

Suzanne Hopkins, 10,063 -17.75%

Joe Koellisch, 4,930 – 8.70%

Maribel Lopez (i), 7,822- 13.80%

Kathryn Mikronis – 5,055- 8.92%

Dan Post (i), 11,068- 19.53%

Albert Siqueiros, 4,590- 8.10%

Dean Spencer, 6,671 – 11.93%

3 to be elected.

Local Propositions

Oro Valley

Question 400

95.8%

$48.6 million bond issue for park.

YES, 7571 – 41.54%

NO, 10,656 – 58.46%

South Tucson

Question 401

100.0%

Treatment of greyhounds

YES, 402 – 51.87%

NO, 373 – 48.13%

Question 402

100.0%

Nonpartisan elections

YES, 394 – 55.81%

NO, 312- 44.19%

Tucson Unified

Proposition 403

94.0%

$28 million budget override to reduce class size, increase arts education

YES, 65,808 – 48.22%

NO, 70671 – 51.78%

Flowing Wells

Proposition 404

100.0%

$19.9 million bond for school buildings, buses

YES, 5119 – 68.96%

NO, 2,304 – 31.04%

Catalina Foothills

Proposition 406

95.5%

$850,000 budget override

YES, 7,846 – 54.62%

NO, 6,518 – 45.38 %

Proposition 407

95.5%

$270,994 budget override

YES, 8,063 – 56.12%

NO, 6,305 – 43.88%

Proposition 408

95.5%

Exceed capital outlay limit by $2 million

YES, 7,399 – 51.53%

NO, 6,961 – 48.47%

———

Propositions

• Proposition 100: Protect Homes

91.4%

Yes, 1,311,239 – 77.0%

No, 391,672 – 23.0%

• Proposition 101: Medical Choice

91.4%

Yes, 835,420 – 49.9%

No, 837,223 – 50.1%

• Proposition 102: Marriage

91.4

Yes, 1,004,467 – 56.5%

No, 774,471- 43.5%

• Proposition 105: Majority Rules

91.4

Yes, 575,049 – 34.2%

No, 1,105,013 – 65.8%

• Proposition 200: Loan Reform

91.4%

Yes, 685,717 – 40.5%

No, 1,007,289 – 59.5%

• Proposition 201: Homeowner Rights

91.4%

Yes, 370,685 – 22.0%

No, 1,316,522 – 78.0%

• Proposition 202: Stop Illegal Hiring

91.4%

Yes, 699,274 – 40.8%

No, 1,016,051 – 59.2%

• Proposition 300: Pay Hike

91.4%

Yes, 609,968 – 35.5%

No, 1,109,248 – 64.5%

Free cookies, coffee and Tootsie Rolls made Friday’s early voting at the University of Arizona bookstore more of a bash than a bore, students said.

“We say come join the party,” said UA Student Body President Tommy Bruce, 21, over the music jamming above the hundreds of students in line. “We’re trying to make everyone comfortable.”

That they were, even with an average wait of 2 1/2 hours Friday afternoon.

But early voting ended early on Friday afternoon when computer phone lines from the Pima County Recorder’s Office downtown were inadvertently disconnected, shutting down the early vote system.

Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said Friday night that voters still in line when the 4:45 p.m. mishap occurred were given numbers and will be allowed to move to the head of emergency voting lines Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

“This shutdown was caused by human error when one of our staffers rebooted the server that handles our dial-in connection,” Rodriguez said.

No early votes that were cast before the system shut down were lost, Rodriguez said.

When the shutdown occurred, early voting for Tuesday’s election was almost certainly on a pace to set a record in the county, Rodriguez said.

A total of 2,803 voters cast early ballots Friday before the accident shut the system down, she said. That brought the number of early voters at Pima County polling places to more than 14,000 since early voting began Oct. 2.

Before early voting ended prematurely Friday, UA junior Amanda Massimini, 20, walked around with a tray full of pumpkin-shaped, frosted cookies.

Massimini voted early, before this week’s anticipated long lines, because of the ease and convenience of a polling place on campus.

All students interviewed agreed the biggest benefit to early voting was the lack of ID requirements. They only needed to be registered to vote.

Election Day polling place rules require showing one photo ID or two nonphoto IDs that match the address on the voter’s registration.

“That’s hard for students,” said sophomore Ashley Dammen, 19. “We move around a lot.”

With all the advantages, including carpet to sit on, classmates to socialize with and even Bruce on a megaphone announcing a raffle, no one was complaining.

“It’s not like it’s fun or anything,” said sophomore Niket Thakkar, 18, “but it’s more convenient than a polling place.”

“It’s also a place to get educated,” said sophomore Sarah Tatum, 19, noting a student walking around handing out pamphlets that explained the ballot propositions.

Tatum voted early because she has a 13-hour day of back-to-back classes and meetings on Tuesdays. She had also done her homework, both on the propositions and how much faster early voting is, even with a more than two hour wait.

“I heard it can be five hours at a polling place on Election Day,” she said.

———

IN A PINCH

Sites open for emergency voting – for those who can’t go to the polls on Tuesday – include:

Recorder’s Main Office, 115 N. Church Ave., 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Recorder’s East Side Annex, 6920 E. Broadway, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

YMCA, 7770 N. Shannon Road, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

St. John’s Catholic Church, 602 W. Ajo Way, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

Ward 6 Office, 3202 E. First St., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

Sacred Heart Church, 601 E. Fort Lowell Road, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

By Garry Duffy, Ryn Gargulinski

Some early voters in line late Friday afternoon will have to return to voting places this weekend after computer phones lines from the Pima County Recorder’s Office downtown were inadvertently disconnected, shutting down the early vote system.

Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said Friday night that no previously cast early ballots have been lost and that voters still in line when the 4:45 p.m. mishap occurred were given numbers and will be allowed to move to the head of emergency voting lines Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

“It was an extremely unfortunate event that has never happened in the history of early voting in Pima County,” Rodriguez said Friday night.

Rodriguez said an office staffer “inadvertently disconnected” the voting network system linking the downtown office central computer system with satellite early voting offices.

“This shutdown was caused by human error when one of our staffers rebooted the server that handles our dial-in connection,” Rodriguez said.

No early votes that were cast before the system shutdown were lost, Rodriguez said.

When the shutdown occurred, early voting for Tuesday’s election was almost certainly on a pace to set a record in the county, Rodriguez said.

Exactly 2,803 voters cast early ballots Friday before the mishap shut the system down, she noted.