Election Day finally arrives

You and your staff seem to love election time.

Some win, some get kicked to the curb.

The Bee tells people how to vote.

Same day, different election.

I'LL TALK TO YOU TOMMOROW.

YOU RAN A GOOD CAMPAIGN, AND NEVER TOOK THE DEVELOPER SHILL MONEY. YOU HAVE THE RESPECT FROM THE PEOPLE.

WHEN YOU WIN, YOU WILL HAVE WON THE TRUE HEARTS AND VOICES FROM THE PEOPLE THE ONES THAT COUNT.

NOT FAKE SPECIAL INTERESTS.

Jeff Jardine said he was the lone person in his polling place in Oakdale this morning.

So what's the turnout going to be? My prediction:

 23 percent countywide.

-- Judy

at our polling place.  My wife and I voted at 11:15 and we were the tenth and eleventh voters since opening. 

Letmesaythis: As The Bee has made abundantly clear in our editorials and in various pronouncements from our editors, we never tell people how to vote.

Our endorsements are the editorial position of the newspaper. We tell people what we believe our the best choices from our perspective. But we always tell people to vote their own minds.

We have never wavered from that stance.

Dan

Slow going at Big Valley, Judy Sly/Editors Desk - Only 22 people as of noon at 4040 Tully Road. The polling location had nine poll workers. There are 800 registered voters at that particular polling booth. 

The Bee runs paid advertisements disguised as  local news stories and they can't even get the spelling correct on a candidate's name.

Judy - The Bee can do way better when future editorials are released. That did a big disservice to Ted Donham by misspelling his name. I know people make mistakes but your logic on the Donham-Warda editorial was inconsistent. It sounded as though The Bee was just looking for a way to not endorse Donham. He knows the system, he's a knowledgeable employee who has amassed years of experience and insight. Warda has got to go. 

The Bee does not "run paid advertisements disguised as local news stories."

And as for the misspelling, it was a mistake. That's all. We corrected it. End of discussion.

Dan

From what I understand there was no disclaimer, but it was all paid for under the category of advertising.

Mine, I think, actually.

The BEE has made it very clear who they support. In their election section, they didn't list Robert Stanford or Al Nava as candidates. What does that mean?

That the BEE is unbiased and does not favor candidates the BEE deems unworthy? The BEE has done a great disservice in this Election. I continue to hope that they will see the error of their ways.

The BEE is the institutional memory of our community and yet decide not to list candidates. Shame on you Modesto BEE.

At Big Valley Grace where there are two precincts together, the one on the left was given 400 ballots and have had 22 come in and vote. The one on the right was given 200 ballots and 14 have come in and voted.

At the new Fire Station on Carver and Pelendale, they wee given 631 ballots and 31 had come in to vote and 6 absentee's had been dropped off.

The Carver Station doesn't have a city council race but the BVG on Tully does.

If your candidate demonstrated professionalism and conduct indicative of an elected official instead of throwing a childish tantrum (refusing to contact the Bee), calling out opponents ("my opponents are fearful and weak") and not commenting on his type of women via online profiles, perhaps he would endear himself to the voting public a tad more. He clearly has and was not ready for this campaign nor the position it entails.

is just another sign of the kind of class you exemplify, Mr. MG. Publicly calling a Latina a sellout is disgraceful, MG. Show some class - oh, never mind.

There's always 2013, MG.

8 out of 10 voted against all of the annexations.

I have tried to post but cannot.

Try exiting out of the thread and going back in.  I notified Dan Day about the problem as have others.

Thanks TS.

It could be that Frank Bavaro(Measure E) made a very good investment in his Campaign donations of $1,000 each to Olsen and Geer.

 Should they win that is.

Makes you wish our votes weren't advisory doesn't it.

Especially on the city council races.

I respect that you chose to get involved in the democratic process. I admire that.

What I find unfortunate is calling people like Maggie a sellout - publicly. If you have an issue with someone of the West side community with whom you might come across or work with, why not do it inconspicuously. That's my whole point, rfmag.

We can argue until we're blue in the face but it doesn't change a couple things:

1. Al Nava did not conduct himself with the highest standards. Calling opponents weak and fearful is not professionalism on display. Refusing to talk to the Bee, showing shirtless pictures of yourself is not classy especially for an election cycle.

2. Calling a fellow Latino or Latina a sellout just because they supported an Anglo candidate seems kind of racist to me.

3. To me, a vote for or against a candidate should come down to ideas. I haven't heard much from Al Nava that makes me say, wow, what a candidate. He's been here four to five months - no wonder people have been attacking Geer (22 years in Dist. 2). If your candidacy isn't making inroads with people, attack someone of superior qualifications and credentials.

I haver just stated his Republican positions. Anti immigration and anti Obama positions.

Please explain the relevance of one's national politics as it relates to city of Modesto politics. Thanks.

Dude, try reading. The Bee will release results at 8:15 p.m. in cooperation with results from the Stan County Registrar. You can visit www.stanvote.com or this website. Tell me why the Bee would release early results before the polls close. This isn't the national election, Wayne.

City council defers to state and federal authorities on matters of immigration. There's very little relevance there. Council doesn't formulate policies as much as it complies and requires police officers to comply with state and federal statutes on immigration, rf.

I realize this is nothing more than a scare tactic, rf. It's okay, I see right through it. Attack Geer instead of your candidate's shoddy credentials and here today, gone tomorrow status.

I have tried posting a reply to your response. But the BEE believes I am SPAM. GOOD NIGHT.

When your community is 60% Latino shouldn't a candidates position on Latino issues be revelant?

NOTHING SAID ABOUT THAT.

MY COMPUTER HAS BEEN DOWN, BECAUSE OF A MALWARE ATTACK, SO I DIDNT HAVE TIME READ EVERY DETAIL.

Just asking, do you have a problem with that?

It illustrates this must be your first rodeo with respect to releasing election results ahead of the 8 p.m. deadline. Don't worry, there will be consolation prizes for you later - the joy of knowing all your attacks on home builders and Joe Muratore won't come to fruition tonight. I'm chomping at the bit to see just how abysmal the turnout is tonight - and how your attacks on Joe Muratore never materialized.

At 3:10 the precinct had 62 voters and the other precincts at the same polling place had about the same. This polling place is usually one of the busiest.

are turning out in droves.  I see pmz security agents on every corner screening voters.  It's going to be a big night for developers. 

At least my hubby and I voted the same.  GO JOE C.

33,367 mail ballots had been turned in as of about 3 p.m. That doesn't count those dropped off at the polling places during the day.

Lee Lundrigan estimates first results will be available shortly after 8 (I'm guessing 8:20 or so).

Hey, the spam filter got me as well, so don't take it personally :)

-- Judy

We know where the BEE stands.

You said 33,367 mail ballots had been turned in - doesn't that seem odd considering you folks projected 800 likely voters in District 2, 2,900 in District 4, and 3,500-3,600 in District 5 - your math doesn't add up.

They're dressed as PMZ real estate agents with name tags and a big smile. And they're coming to get us - hide the women and children.

Dan and Judy,

Anyone who has actually read and done their homework, participated in activities with, and interacts with the Bee would know the Bee's endorsements are only opinions....not the Bee telling people "how to vote".  I've been reading the Bee since 1971 and every election the Bee has made endorsements.  Sometimes for people I agree were good choices, and often times when I have thought the endorsements were terrible.  However, I have never thought the Bee was telling me how to vote. 

In today’s world, with not just the newspapers, the flyers, the ad campaigns, the radio announcements, the Internet, the major political party mailers, (and on and on) it would be ridiculous to think that any one source would have that much sway over how people vote (unless those people were lemmings - which I don't think is the case).  I'd say 99.9% of your (The Modesto Bee) readership know and understand the principle of "endorsements"... just as they would understand that the Modesto Teachers Association, League of Women Voters, the Republican or Democratic Party endorsements are just opinions of one group or another.  Hopefully no one just blindly votes based on what they read in an endorsement… without studying all the issues.  Maybe some do. 

The paper (as you stated) "has made it abundantly clear" that in editorials and various pronouncements from editors that those were your choices and your perspectives...  In 38 years of readership, I can't every recall the BEE "TELLING" people how to vote. If that is what they did... (vote because the Bee told them how to) maybe it is a problem with the voter and not the paper. 

Modesto BEE off as usual.

OPEN THE BEE THE MORNING OF NOVEMBER 4, 2009 for election results.  The final voice will be the vote of the people (those who took the time to vote).  After that, nothing really will matter.  Those who win will win and those who do not should be respectful and congratulate the winners and not be whiners.  That should go for everyone. 

Next election, if you don't like this elections result, work harder to get your candidate elected.  It's that simple!

Judy said the Registrar reported 33,000 (or so) absentee ballots turned in - are those for the entire county or Modesto... what does that number represent, Dave. Please advise. Thanks. If it's not Modesto, then the numbers don't mean a whole lot to us Modesto voters. Thanks.

... represents all of Stanislaus County, not just Modesto.

It'd be nice if Judy were able to glean data from say 5 polling places throughout Modesto instead of a random figure. But thanks anyways, Judy. I know you folks are trying. 

We can make no conclusions or interpretations of the data then. But thanks anyways for the meaningless post (Dave, those numbers tell us nothing, sorry).