November 1, 2008 - 17 million on state vote rolls

Paper: Californian, The ( Salinas, CA)
Title: 17 million on state vote rolls
Date: November 1, 2008
Author: Staff and wire report

By Staff and wire report

A record number of Californians registered to vote this year, but Monterey County fell just short of its record.

Statewide voter rolls surpassed 17 million for the first time, the secretary of state's office said Friday, just days away from the Nov. 4 election. California's 17.3 million registered voters is up from the previous peak in February 2005, when California had 16.6 million voters .

In Monterey County, 158,400 people are registered to vote, according to the Elections Department. That beats the 2004 registration of 156,200 but falls short of 1996's record of 163,700.

Linda Tulett, Monterey County's registrar of voters , said about 56,000 mail ballots out of 97,000 are in, the highest return yet for an election, and she's expecting turnout to hit 80 percent Tuesday.

During early voting in October, Tulett said, 1,800 people voted in the department's Salinas headquarters.

Election officials throughout California have added poll workers, ordered extra ballots and urged people to vote early.

Nationwide, experts predict voter turnout will be the highest in decades.

TO VOTE

The Monterey County Elections Department, 1370 B S. Main St., Salinas, is open today and Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and all polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Information: 831-796-1499 or www.monterey countyelections.us.