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Registrar Warns It will Be A Long Night

San Diego’s Registrar of Voters, Deborah Seiler, says she hopes to have the ballots cast at the polls tomorrow counted by dawn the next day. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Registrar Warns It will Be A Long Night

San Diego’s Registrar of Voters, Deborah Seiler, says she hopes to have the ballots cast at the polls tomorrow counted by dawn the next day.

KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

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Half a million San Diegans are expected to go to the polls tomorrow.

The Registrar says 18,000 people have already voted early at her office, and 400,000 of the 660,000 mail-in ballots sent out have already been returned.

Seiler says it has been difficult to get ahead with the  absentee vote count, because early voting has kept her workers occupied.

She  says the sheer quantity of ballots that will arrive on election day will keep election workers busy all night.

Seiler says Diebold, the contractor who provides voting equipment, has produced extra ballot scanners.  

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Seiler : In the past couple of elections we used 100 scanners but this election we will be using 150 scanners,. We think with those 150 scanners we will be able to get those precinct ballots counted before the sun comes up. 

Seiler says it may take longer than usual to start counting the ballots.  

That’s because anyone in line by 8pm will be allowed to vote, so poll workers will stay to accomodate them, before doing final tallies and sending the ballots to the Registrar’s office to be scanned and counted.

Alison St John,  KPBS news.