Chasing California

California elections: Bay Area residents wait in long lines to cast their votes on Super Tuesday

ByAmanda del Castillo and Cornell W. Barnard KGO logo

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Wait times of up to three hours were reported at polling locations in San Jose on Super Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Bay Area voters had to practice patience at the polling places this Super Tuesday.

In the East Bay, voter turnout was strong. Lots of people were doing same-day registration, something new in California.

In Alameda County, there was a long line of cars for drive-thru ballot drop off near Lake Merritt. Many voters tell ABC7 News they got off work early and raced down there. Others voted at their local polling place.

"We got here just in time to drop off my ballot," said voter Amana Johnson.

"Today the parking lot here was full of voters, Californians are sort of lackadaisical when it comes to primaries but this is a presidential election year," said voter Rekha Daram.

In Contra Costa County, The Willow Creek Center in Concord had a steady stream of voters all day.

A polling supervisor said some people even surrendered their mail-in ballot and requested a new one because their candidate had dropped out of the race.

San Jose State was one of the busiest polling locations with wait times up to three hours, depending on the time of day. San Jose's Martin Luther King Jr., Library, was also a busy spot.

This year Santa Clara County introduced a new voting system. All registered voters received a vote-by-mail ballot and could vote at any voting center in the county. Voters registered as having no party preference could also request a crossover ballot to vote in the Democratic presidential primaries.

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