Malibuites Get Ready to Make Their Voices Heard

• Local Voter Registration Is Slightly Above 2004

BY ANNE SOBLE

Depending on which day one starts the countdown, there are only a few days left before Malibu voters join the ranks of Americans across the nation and take part in the quadrennial recurrence of the most amazing exercise of democratic power the world has ever known.
There can be no illusions about the perfect nature of any system that seeks to count millions of votes quickly and accurately, but the American electoral process works well and is universally honored despite the occasional glitches and abuses.
A greater number of local residents than ever before are believed to be among those casting the record number of absentee ballots now being reported by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office.
RR/CC’s Dean Logan said that the county’s voter registrations “reached a milestone this month with 4,149,229 registrants on file, and that number continued to increase before registration closed last week. Los Angeles County has the highest number of registered voters in any county elections jurisdiction in the country.”
In L.A. County, Democrats make up 51 percent of registered voters, 25 percent are Republicans, and 20 percent decline to state party preference. Four percent align with minor parties.
In the City of Malibu, there are currently 3788 registered Democrats, 2680 Republicans, and 1700 decline-to-state, or independents, with the rest of the total of 8701 voters registered as American Independent Party, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and Nonpartisan.
In unincorporated Malibu, or Malibu Heights, as the area is designated by the RR/CC, there are 2132 registered voters: 751 Democrats, 676 Republicans, 517 DTSs, and the remainder allocated among the five smaller parties.
Since the 2004 Presidential Primary, there has been a slight increase in local Democratic registration, a comparable decline of Republican registrants, and the percentage of voters choosing to decline to state a party choice has increased.
Malibu’s older demographics don’t reflect the countywide surge in voters between the ages of 18 and 25. Malibu Heights, which includes the Pepperdine University campus, showed only a modest increase overall.
“With the phenomenal interest in the election,” Logan predicted, “voters may experience longer lines or wait times at polling places than in past elections. Where possible, voters are encouraged to vote midday when lines are likely to be shorter.”
Additionally, Logan cautions that election night results reporting could be slow due to the unprecedented number of ballots.
“We want to emphasize accuracy and efficiency over expediency, and we will work as long as it takes to properly gather and tally all the votes cast,” he said.
Although the election night focus will be on the White House, Malibuites also will be monitoring local and state matters on the ballot. When these are close, counting can take even longer.