The November 7, 2006 Election is just days away. After nearly a year of planning, months of training, and weeks of testing, we are ready. One of our newest staff at the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department likened her feelings to those on Christmas morning. As someone who has been working in elections for over a decade, her feelings were inspiring.

Election Day is truly an amazing day. Especially the General Elections when one considers that every neighborhood, in every county, in every state of this great nation is preparing for this day. Imagine the candidates and the campaign workers as they awaken on November 7 for their last day’s effort to convince voters to vote their way. Or the thousands of poll workers who get up at 5 a.m. to arrive at their polling sites to post the necessary signs, prepare the voting equipment, set up the voting booths, arrange the voter indexes, and get ready to open the polls at 7 a.m.

And then there are the millions of voters in the United States who have this wonderful right to elect their representatives and vote on laws affecting their state and communities. Voting began in Santa Cruz County 60 days before November 7 when we mailed 119 ballots to voters who are serving in the military. Since the regular vote-by-mail period began 29 days before the election, we have issued a record number, 54,624, vote-by-mail ballots to our 142,415 registered voters in Santa Cruz County. For this election, we may see as many people voting by mail as those who vote at the polls.

Whether you vote by mail or vote at the polls, you will see that our voting system has changed. Since Congress passed the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) a number of changes have been made to the way we cast our votes. Here in Santa Cruz County we are now using the Sequoia Voting System that is federally qualified and state certified. Most voters will continue to cast their votes on a paper ballot. Paper ballots will be at the polls as well as at least one touchscreen voting unit that will allow a voter with a disability to vote independently and privately. The touchscreen unit has a voter verified paper audit trail, and in Santa Cruz County, we will conduct a 10 percent manual recount of the machines to ensure the results match those recorded by the voting machines. Further, we require strict chain of custody procedures, tamper evident seals and many more checks and balances before and after Election Day.

Election Day is truly an amazing day. It is made possible by the countless hours of those who work in our department, those who work in the polls, those who work for Santa Cruz County or our cities who help out on Election Day, those who cover the news and events, and those who go to vote. Don’t miss out. Get in the spirit and vote November 7.