The Times heard unsubstantiated reports from people who wished to remain unidentified this morning that a group of San Martin residents were picketing either for or against the town’s upcoming incorporation (our sources were very unclear) outside the San Martin polling place. According to these sources whose reliability we could not determine, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office was called to disperse the crowd.

That’s all we know, or all we think we know, which of course leaves lots of questions. Why would the sheriff care if a group of citizens and taxpayers choose to exercise their freedom of speech? State law says no campaigning is allowed within 100 feet of a polling place, but what if the campaigners are addressing an issue that’s not on the current ballot? At the same time, why would the folks who feel so strongly about San Martin’s incorporation choose the polling place on election day to conduct a mass protest, when their issue won’t be on any ballot for at least another seven months? (See article “San Martin residents get excited about upcoming incorporation vote,” on the Morgan Hill Times main page now.)

There’s at least one incident of picketing we do know of in the local 2008 campaign season, and that took place in the rain Saturday. We received some photos Monday morning showing dueling Proposition 8 protesters displaying “Yes” and “No” signs while getting soaked downtown. The police weren’t called, perhaps because it wasn’t yet election day.

My dear friend, San Jose State University professor Terry Christensen, a highly regarded political scientist with a knack for predicting political races, returned my call today seeking comment on the local Morgan Hill City Council election, the two local measures and the historic presidential election. I asked him what he thought of the local race here in Morgan Hill and he was well aware of the two incumbents, Councilmen Larry Carr and Mark Grzan, wanting to be re-elected and the newcomer, Marilyn Librers, hoping to win one of those seats.

Christensen said incumbents always get re-elected in this situation. Carr and Grzan have served two and one four-year terms, respectively. Most people know their names. During such high voter turnout expected, voters will be more inclined to give them their votes and recognize them on the ballot.

To overcome the benefit of the name recognition that Carr and Grzan enjoy, Librers would have had to conduct a genuine community grassroots campaign. And it sounds like she may have done that. Christensen said Librers would have had to conduct a vigorous campaign that would have included the distribution of lawn signs and knocking on doors to get her name out there and connect with local voters about her candidacy.

When incumbents lose races like this, Christensen said, it means they were overconfident and didn’t campaign aggressively and got outcampaigned by the challenger.

About Measure G, which would enact a 2 percent utility tax to pay for more police officers and will need a two thirds majority vote to pass tonight, Christensen predicted it will fail. “It’s going to be hard for any tax measure to reach the two-thirds threshold in this economy,” he said.

About the presidential election, Christensen predicted the junior Illinois Sen. Barack Obama winning California, “but everyone can predict that,” he quipped.

Christensen said Obama will win with 291 electoral votes. He needs 270 to be elected president of the United States. All his colleagues at San Jose State University, predicted Obama would win by much more than that tonight.

By Sheila Sanchez, Editor

Well Morgan Hill, here we are at the 11th hour of what undoubtedly has been a fascinating time in American political history and tonight our nations voters, will do doubt, definitely bring with their votes, CHANGE!!!!
Here in Morgan Hill, our mayor runs for re-election unopposed, while two well known incumbent city council members are being challenged by an equally well known seasoned local volunteer for a seat on the city council.
While two very important local measures G and H are today being voted on to add police protection and increase housing density to our downtown core. Your VOTE today, will add your decisions into American and Morgan Hill record books of history. I ask you to be sure and VOTE your conscience, but no excuses acceptable, please make your VOTE count.
So, VOTE!!!! VOTE!!!! VOTE!!!!

By John Varela, former Morgan Hill mayor

With the historic Election of 2008 being here, we must consider several local measures for the City of Morgan Hill. Measure G is the “Citizen Safety” Measure and deserves a YES vote for several reasons. If you read our police chief’s editorial in last week’s issue of the Morgan Hill Times, you quickly realize that crime is a growing concern in our “small town.” You have only to read that column and the increasingly numerous articles about shootings in our neighborhoods and the increase in violent crime to understand that we have a problem right now and it must be addressed.
In another recent article, the sad shape of our downtown was highlighted. Our city officials are simply asking us to modify the current growth control measure of housing allocation. We need to build housing along with parking and new structures for our businesses. It only makes sense to build the housing as we build the new businesses in a “mixed-use” form of construction. A YES vote makes fiscal sense and will help modify our current code to allow for this form of construction.

Finally, please remember that the United Democratic Campaign Office is not a polling place. You cannot leave your completed ballots at this office. You may come in to get information about where your polling place is or you may receive information about voter rights. You may contact the UDC at (408) 219-7739 for additional information. Or call (408) 600-6120 for information about the ballot measures or our local candidates.

By Swanee Edwards, local Democratic Party volunteer

Wow, the state General Election Voter Information Guide is a total of 143 pages. It’s the thickest I’ve seen it in all my years of voting in this country. It came with a so-called “certificate of correctness” signed by California State Secretary Debra Bowen.
A quick reference to the guide indicated that most, 74 pages, are dedicated to state propositions, while the rest is dedicated to answering questions for voters such as where to vote, voting by mail, how to serve as a poll worker and other useful information also found on the state’s Secretary of State’s Web site, www.sos.ca.gov. If you have questions about how and where to vote and the electoral process you may also call 1-800-345-VOTE.
We can find up to the minute election results today at http://vote.sos.ca.gov.
Even though I received my vote-by-mail ballot as early as Oct. 6 and I could have mailed it to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ Office weeks ago, I opened the big awkward envelope early this morning took out the two giant cards and voted with a black pen. It was easy. I filled out the ballot connecting arrows pointing to the candidates and the measures of my choice and took it to my old polling place. I’m proudly wearing my “I voted” sticker today.

With so much at stake in this historic election, every vote will count today, especially the vote of minority populations in the country and particularly the vote of such groups in heavily diverse states such as California.
A conversation with Brent Wilkes, the national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, reemphasized what the ethnic media, especially Spanish-language media, has been saying about the Latino vote and that is that it’s growing and will play an important role in the election process of smaller communities such as Gilroy, Hollister and Morgan Hill.
The vote will be critical to electing candidates who will enact legislation important to Latinos living in these communities. Minority groups are realizing how critical their vote is in electing the right candidates. Their vote is critical and they know it. They have registered in record numbers for this election, they’re also turning out in record numbers and will make sure their priorities and the issues they care about are represented.
Wilkes said nationwide there’s been an increase of 3 to 4 million new Latino registered voters from the last presidential election cycle. It’s also predicted that voter turnout among this minority group will see a 3 million increase, bringing the total number of Latinos voting to between 9 and 10 million people. During the last election cycle there were only 7 million Latinos voting, Wilkes said.
“This will be very important in areas where races are close,” Wilkes said.
In areas like Gilroy and Hollister, where concentrations of Latino voters are said to be more than 50 percent, Wilkes said the LULAC has strong councils with volunteers who have conducted successful voter registration efforts.
Election volunteers have been going door to door, canvassing largely Latino areas in both communities to find unregistered, eligible residents and help them register and turn them into voters. Volunteers have also visited community centers, shopping plazas, festivals, submitted public service announcements to radio and television stations, and media outreach to send the message that it’s important to register to vote and actually vote.
In the past, Latinos have been frustrated and even fearful of the Democratic process, but during this election it’s encouraging to see them realize how important their vote will be.
The stereotype that most Latinos are Democrats is unfortunately true. Nobody likes stereotypes, but voting registration documents show that the Hispanic population in the country is Democratic. Their vote, however, is not a monolithic vote, Wilkes said. It can vary between 20 and 40 percent Republican.
Wilkes predicted Latino voters would not support Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage, because many will see it as a civil rights issue. However, rejection of Proposition 8 doesn’t necessarily mean Latinos support gay marriage, but rather that they realize wedging a certain community group by denying them rights that they’re fighting so hard to obtain could hurt them.
About Proposition 4, which would require parents to be notified before a minor has an abortion, Wilkes predicted Latino voters would probably support it because the issue is tied religion and most voters belong to either the Catholic Church or other conservative denomination. There’s been an increase in the numer of Latinos that are pro-choice, but it’s not clear if there’s enough of them to defeat Proposition 4. He predicted a split on this measure.
About voter fraud, or aggresively going after Latinos who are not yet naturalized citizens of the United States to get them to vote, Wilkes said most election volunteers would never jeopardize a prospective citizen’s ability to obtain citizenship by helping them commit voter fraud. He said falsifying information on a voter registration is grounds for deportation.

By Sheila Sanchez - Editor

This news blog will be the place to discuss local politics on election night, Nov. 4. Tune in to hear thoughts from our contributors and to trade ideas with fellow residents on all the issues on your ballot.