I've spent many an election night refreshing pages on lavote.net and/or ss.ca.gov. As it concerns Santa Clarita, I've learned this much: you learn almost everything minutes after the polls close at 8 (when the results from absentee ballots sent early enough to be counted are announced) and then you won't get any news for several hours into the night.
You see, the ballots from the SCV aren't counted until they are picked up and transported to Norwalk. It's quite a wait. It isn't unusual for an SCV election night party to turn the lights off before a second update is posted. Usually, after thefirst results are posted, the story is over. Not this year.
In the COC races, incumbents Fortine and Wilk are each leading their challengers by about four points. The Hart board is almost a three-way tie. In Saugus, challenger Steven Winkler is in second place in a two-seat race. The Sulphur Springs race is favoring the incumbents, but challenger Priscilla Lofton still has a chance.
About 3/4ths of the voters in these elections vote by absentee, but not all absentee ballots are received in time to be included in the first count. The results posted thus far account for about half the vote total as 2009. I'm guessing that we'll see a smaller turnout than 2009, but I could be wrong. I'm surprised in more ways than one tonight.
At some point tonight, we'll start seeing the votes come in. Here are some direct, refresh-friendly links for the local races.
COC: Fortine/Shaw
COC: Wilk/Hill
Hart
Saugus
Sulphur Springs
Newhall Measure E
Early Returns: Too Close for Comfort?
You see, the ballots from the SCV aren't counted until they are picked up and transported to Norwalk. It's quite a wait. It isn't unusual for an SCV election night party to turn the lights off before a second update is posted. Usually, after thefirst results are posted, the story is over. Not this year.
In the COC races, incumbents Fortine and Wilk are each leading their challengers by about four points. The Hart board is almost a three-way tie. In Saugus, challenger Steven Winkler is in second place in a two-seat race. The Sulphur Springs race is favoring the incumbents, but challenger Priscilla Lofton still has a chance.
About 3/4ths of the voters in these elections vote by absentee, but not all absentee ballots are received in time to be included in the first count. The results posted thus far account for about half the vote total as 2009. I'm guessing that we'll see a smaller turnout than 2009, but I could be wrong. I'm surprised in more ways than one tonight.
At some point tonight, we'll start seeing the votes come in. Here are some direct, refresh-friendly links for the local races.
COC: Fortine/Shaw
COC: Wilk/Hill
Hart
Saugus
Sulphur Springs
Newhall Measure E