Election Day voters in the Bay Area talk about casting their ballots in person

Voting by mail has become such a common occurrence that going to a polling place on Election Day has become a quaint notion. But with all the indecision of this primary election, many were finding comfort in delivering their votes in person.

The parking lot outside of the Registrar's Office in Martinez was almost as crowded as the race for governor. Gail Wooley dropped her ballot in the box outside, but then went inside to get her "I voted" sticker.  And she said there's a reason it meant that much to her.

"People of color. We had to fight for this," said Wooley.  "And I'm not going to vote? That's not going to happen."

But some feel a fight is still going on. A steady stream of people showed up at the Elections Office drop box just to feel the sense of security of depositing their ballot right outside of where it's going to be counted. Mark Battle came from Pittsburg to deposit his vote in the ballot box inside the building.

"No, I don't trust sending it in the mail. Because I don't know who's going to have access," he said. "Of course, they could probably say the same thing here. By putting it in a box, what if somebody goes through it? But I just feel a little sense of security, more sense of security, just dropping it off in the box on the last day."

Upstairs, the machines were already humming, and votes were already being "tallied" but not "tabulated." Which means ballots were being fed into the machines, but no numbers would be revealed until the polls officially closed at 8 pm. They are very careful about following the rules, especially after Governor Newsom wrote a letter in May, telling officials to be both accurate and fast in order to thwart those who may be eager to claim fraud.  

"We are being tested like never before," he wrote. "We face an assault on our democratic values unlike anything we have ever seen in our lifetimes, and it's our job to safeguard those values during these unprecedented times."  

No pressure there.  

"That really angered me, I'll be honest," said County Registrar of Voters, Kristin Connelly. "Because it's the amnesia involved by the policy makers, that they forgot that they are the ones who actually delay our ability to certify any faster."

Connelly said if legislators want local officials to get election results faster, it will require that deadlines be changed. Deadlines that are set by the Legislature. She said, for this election, things started out pretty slow, but then a flood of ballots was being delivered, and turnout was up to about 40 percent, which was pretty normal for a midterm primary election. At a polling place at Martinez city hall, Bob Hart said he and his wife weren't procrastinating. They just get a good feeling voting on Election Day.

"It's something that we just do.  We just do it: 'Oh, today's the day to vote!'" he said. "It's something that my wife and I really enjoy doing. And it's easy. It's easy to do."