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# ELECTION2006 Hey! Voters can be choosers
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/election2006-hey-voters-can-be-choosers/
- Published: 2006-11-07T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:14:12.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*DECISION TIME: Campaigns come to a close; voters to have final word*

CITYWIDE — Today, voters will be faced with several important, and possibly life-changing decisions, from who will represent them at the national, state and local levels to whether or not they wish to tax themselves by the billions to help pay for new roads, schools and levees.

For those who haven’t already voted by via absentee ballot, polls across the city will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Registered voters are being asked to cast ballots for California governor and the other six statewide offices, one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats and candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, the state legislature, the state board of equalization and various judicial posts. Also on the ballot are 13 state propositions and bond measures.

To find your polling place, or to receive up-to-the-minute election results, go to www.lavote.net. Polls will be open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On the local front, Santa Monicans can vote for three of the 10 candidates for City Council, four of the six candidates for school board, four of the six candidates for Santa Monica College board of trustees and three of the four candidates for rent control board.

There are also four city measures and a $268 million school bond measure.

Anyone seeking official information, including up-to-the-minute election results, should contact the Secretary of State at (800) 345-VOTE or www.ss.ca.gov; the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder at (800) 815-2666 or www.lavote.net; or the Santa Monica City Clerk at (310) 458-8211 or www.smgov.net/cityclerk/Election2006\. Information on candidates and ballot measures is also available from the League of Women Voters at www.smartvoter.org.

Election results will be made available tonight, beginning at 8:15 p.m., shortly after polls close.

Voter turnout, however, is expected to be low for the second-straight election, according to political pundits.

“There is no excitement at the top of the ticket for both the governor’s race and the (U.S.) Senate race, since both are going to be blowouts,” said Matt Klink, a political consultant with Cerrell Associates. “Frankly, there is a brutally long ballot to work through and that is going to be problematic for any ballot measure that requires a tax increase, problematic for down ballot democratic candidates because the theory is that in these types of elections, more conservative, older voters tend to show up at the polls.”

> “Frankly, there is a brutally long ballot to work through and that is going to be problematic for any ballot measure that requires a tax increase” — ELECTION, from page 1 MATT KLINK POLITICAL CONSULTANT

Klink said it will be interesting to see locally if City Council challengers such as Terry O’Day, Gleam Davis and Jenna Linnekens, who have collectively generated interest in the race, will be able to get out of the vote.

While Measure W is dubbed the “Good Government Act of 2006,” opponents con-tend it is the exact opposite. Santa Monica is already considered to have one of the nation’s toughest laws to prevent government corruption, approved by voters in 2000\. City attorneys contend that the measure, which bars elected officials from profiting from their posts, is unconstitutional.

Backers of Measure W insist it would prevent public offices from being used for profit, but opponents claim it will lead to elected officials taking campaign donations from companies that do business with the city — opening the door for corrupt government.

Measure Y, meanwhile, would put Santa Monica in the unique position of being tough on tobacco, but not so much on marijuana.

The proposal would declare that crimes involving the adult, personal use of marijuana are the lowest law-enforcement priority for the Santa Monica Police Department. The measure would be a unique position for the city, which last month voted to extend an already tough anti-smoking ordinance to include all outdoor dining areas, the Third Street Promenade, all farmers’ markets, bus stops and movie theater lines.

Measure U would remove city department heads from the civil service system, meaning they can be hired and fired at will by the city manager.

Measure V, known as the “Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax Act,” would impose a property tax to implement and finance a Watershed Management Plan aimed at cleaning Santa Monica Bay beaches. The tax would be $84 a year for single-family homes, while the amount would vary for multi-family and commercial properties, depending on parcel size.

In addition to the local measures, voters will have their hands full with a host of statewide initiatives.

These include a multi-billion dollar infrastructure package — Propositions 1-A through 1-E. These would allow the state to issue more than $37 billion in bonds to fund schools, roads, levees and housing.

Proposition 83, also known as “Jessica’s Law,” would increase penalties for registered sex offenders. Proposition 85 would require parental notification before a minor could have an abortion. Proposition 86 would add $2.60 to the cost of a pack of cigarettes. And Proposition 87 would tax California oil companies to create a $4 billion program to fund alternative energy projects.

A federal prosecutor will handle any complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in Los Angeles and six other counties during tomorrow’s general election.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Mitchell will take complaints from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Mitchell, who works in the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will be on duty while the polls are open, and (213) 894-2484.

The FBI will also have agents available in its Los Angeles field office and other offices throughout the region to receive any election-related complaints.

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can also be made directly to the Washington-based Voting Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice at (800) 253-3931 or (202) 307-2767.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 7, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110706.pdf?ref=smdp.com)