Political groups work to get out the vote

Party activists urge citizens to head to polls for election. Some cast ballots right downstairs. Finding a polling place for today’s special election takes nothing more than picking up a telephone or logging onto the Internet.

But for some Newport-Mesa residents, fulfilling their civic duties is even simpler than that. All it involves is going downstairs.

A variety of residential complexes have again signed up with the Orange County Registrar of Voters to be polling stations, allowing tenants the luxury of voting at home.

Avalon at Newport, an assisted-living facility in Newport Beach, turns its 24-hour café into a voting center on election day.

“It’s a convenience for them [our residents],” said Barbara Fenley, Avalon’s marketing director. “With this election, and another special election coming up, we are glad it’s here.”

About half of the complex’s residents took advantage of the polling location for last year’s November election, Fenley said.

At Newport Beach Plaza, a senior retirement community that hosts election-day voting, the majority of voters aren’t residents, said program supervisor Jennifer Gifford.

Neighbors stream into the building’s activity room and are often greeted by plaza residents who are volunteering at the polling station.

“Many of our residents are involved,” Gifford said. “They enjoy it. They can come downstairs ... put on the ‘I Voted’ sticker and begin to register other people.

“We are very community-based,” she said. “If we can help to push the vote, we try.”

As on all election days, the Oasis Senior Center in Newport Beach offers those registered in its transportation program a ride to polling stations. But Celeste Jardine-Haug, senior services manager for the city of Newport Beach, said she hadn’t heard of any requests this year.

“Probably most seniors vote via absentee ballots,” Jardine-Haug said.

Numbers show that many voters across the county didn’t wait until today to fill out their ballots. The county registrar has already received about 220,000 absentee ballots out of about 415,000 mailed out, according to registrar spokesperson Brett Rowley.

Those who haven’t yet voted are the target of regional political groups. The Democratic Party of Orange County is spending election day assisting voters by telling them the locations of polling places and answering ballot questions.

Susan Freeze, the party’s assistant to the chairman, said the organization is encouraging residents to canvass their neighborhoods to drum up support for the election.

The party is even offering free rides to polling places for those who are without transportation. Freeze said that unlike in past years, the office has received a number of calls from people taking them up on the offer.

The Orange County Young Republicans, a group that holds regular meetings in Costa Mesa, is organizing members to walk precincts today.

After 4 p.m., volunteers are planning to visit polling stations and call registered voters who have yet to cast a ballot, said group president Jeff Corless.

He said such actions are particularly important in a special election, where the voting turnout is often less than in a regular election.

“It’s hard to predict how many people will vote,” Corless said. “This is where grass-roots volunteer efforts make a difference -- when the poll numbers are tightening.”

* For the first time, the Orange County Registrar of Voters is breaking down election totals by precinct on its website, www.oc.ca.gov/election. Throughout the day, updates will be posted.

SPECIAL ELECTION

* On the Ballot: Eight propositions and five county ballot measures

* Polling hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

* For polling locations: Contact the Orange County Registrar of Voters at (714) 567-7600 or visit www.oc.ca.gov/election

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter. He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at [email protected].