Last day to vote on Prop. A
By Daily Press staff
Today is the last day for Santa Monicans to cast votes on Proposition A, the Homeowner’s Initiative.
A city clerk official will be stationed on the sidewalk in front of City Hall to accept last-minute ballots from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“People won’t even have to get out of their cars,” said City Clerk Maria Stewart.
Residents who did not receive a ballot in the mail can request a ballot from the City Clerk’s office inside City Hall.
The election officially ends at 9 p.m. Ballots will then be transferred to City Council chambers where they will be counted. A preliminary result is expected late Friday night, Stewart said.
As of Thursday, 17,344 of Santa Monica’s more than 50,000 registered voters had returned their ballots, a number election specialists say is high for a single-issue election.
The special election was called for the Homeowners’ Freedom of Choice Initiative, which proposes making historic preservation voluntary for owners of single-family homes. Under the current law, such designations may be made over the owner’s objections.
Only 16 houses in Santa Monica have ever been deemed of historic significance. Nonetheless, the election has attracted a significant amount of money. Roughly $200,000 has been donated this year alone to campaigns on both sides of the measure, according to campaign contribution disclosure reports.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 21, 2003. Read the original PDF.