Go to the Polls Prepared

When millions of Californians go to the polls Tuesday, the first thing they will face when they open their ballot is a daunting list of 17 candidates for governor--six Democrats, five Republicans, two Peace and Freedom Party members and one each from the Libertarian, American Independent, Natural Law and Green parties. Welcome to the new “open” primary, created by ballot initiative in 1996.

Under the new system, each registered voter may cast his or her ballot for any candidate for each office at stake, regardless of party affiliation. This is a dramatic departure from past years, when Democrats got a ballot with only Democrats listed, Republicans with Republicans and so on. And until now, independents could not vote in the partisan primaries--only for nonpartisan offices and ballot measures.

The open primary was proposed as a way for nominees to be selected by a greater cross section of voters. The measure’s authors, primarily moderate Republicans, had chafed when conservatives often won the GOP primary but lost in the fall to Democrats because they represented a rather narrow sampling of all Republican voters.

On Tuesday, every voter will be able to mark one candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, etc., through the list of U.S. Senate, House, legislative, statewide and local offices.

For each office, the Democrat and Republican collecting the most votes will be nominated to run in the fall election. The same is true for the minor parties.

Then will come nine statewide propositions and local measures, the number of which will vary from county to county.

Only half the state’s voters will cast ballots for nominees for the state Senate. Twenty of the 40 Senate seats are filled at each election. This year, even-numbered district seats are at stake.

The best advice for eliminating possible confusion and expediting voting is to decide in advance how to vote and mark those choices in the Sample Official Ballot, which has been mailed to every registered voter. The first two pages of the pamphlet contain reproductions of the ballot, which in fact is a punch card containing numbers that correspond to the numbers beside each of the candidates’ names. The secretary of state’s office urges voters to take their pre-marked sample ballots into the booth with them as voting guides.

State law allows a voter 10 minutes in the voting booth, but the law is not strictly enforced. For most people, that should be more than enough time to cast their ballots.

The best time to avoid a crowd is between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The majority of Californians vote before or after that, while on their way to or from work. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Even though this is an open primary, the voters still will receive ballots designated for Democrats, Republicans and the minor parties. This is because only party members are allowed to vote for members of their party county central committees.

It is too late to mail absentee ballots, but they may be hand-delivered to the local polling place before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

With the new system, there is certain to be some confusion and delay at the polls this year. The smart voter is the prepared voter.