2008 Woodie Awards
Californians flock to polls; McCain, Clinton score
John Hornberg
Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: News
SACRAMENTO - The largest projected turnout in California history for an election showed up for Tuesday's primary, resulting in voting problems ranging from decline-to-state voters being turned away to voting locations running out of ballots.
A Field Research projection for California was 8.9 million voters, a record for the state, according to the report.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen was satisfied with the projected high turnout, stating that the problems that happened with this primary were based on the high voter turnout.
"It's been decades since California had a primary where we counted," she said to reporters. "Some of what you are seeing aren't things you would have seen in past primaries because the nominations were already sewn up."
With approximately 24 percent of the votes counted by 11 p.m., Hillary Clinton and John McCain led their respective parties primaries in California, according to the California secretary of state's office. Propositions 91, 92 and 93 were all losing as of late last night, with the four Indian gaming propositions, 94 to 97, all passing by considerable margins.
Sen. Clinton was claiming 54.6 percent of the vote, while Obama had 34.3 percent, according to the secretary's office. Clinton also led Santa Clara County with 56.6 percent of the vote and a little more than 31 percent of the votes counted.
For the Republicans, McCain held a large lead over his nearest competitor, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. McCain had 43.8 percent of the statewide vote, with Romney at 26.3 percent. Mike Huckabee was a distant third, with 11.6 percent of the votes counted.
McCain also claimed 51.1 percent of the vote in Santa Clara County as of 11 p.m.
By 12:30 this morning, the Associated Press reported that senators Clinton and McCain won the Democratic and Republican primaries in California, respectively.
Of the ballot initiatives, only Proposition 93 remained close, with 100,000 votes separating the two sides, also at 11 p.m.
A Field Research projection for California was 8.9 million voters, a record for the state, according to the report.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen was satisfied with the projected high turnout, stating that the problems that happened with this primary were based on the high voter turnout.
"It's been decades since California had a primary where we counted," she said to reporters. "Some of what you are seeing aren't things you would have seen in past primaries because the nominations were already sewn up."
With approximately 24 percent of the votes counted by 11 p.m., Hillary Clinton and John McCain led their respective parties primaries in California, according to the California secretary of state's office. Propositions 91, 92 and 93 were all losing as of late last night, with the four Indian gaming propositions, 94 to 97, all passing by considerable margins.
Sen. Clinton was claiming 54.6 percent of the vote, while Obama had 34.3 percent, according to the secretary's office. Clinton also led Santa Clara County with 56.6 percent of the vote and a little more than 31 percent of the votes counted.
For the Republicans, McCain held a large lead over his nearest competitor, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. McCain had 43.8 percent of the statewide vote, with Romney at 26.3 percent. Mike Huckabee was a distant third, with 11.6 percent of the votes counted.
McCain also claimed 51.1 percent of the vote in Santa Clara County as of 11 p.m.
By 12:30 this morning, the Associated Press reported that senators Clinton and McCain won the Democratic and Republican primaries in California, respectively.
Of the ballot initiatives, only Proposition 93 remained close, with 100,000 votes separating the two sides, also at 11 p.m.
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