Bipartisan Complaints For "Decline to State" Ballots on Super Tuesday

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 7, 2008 at 1:50 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Both Republicans and Democrats had problems with their "decline to state" ballots. The San Diego Registrar of Voters office has been dealing with complaints. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Both Republicans and Democrats had problems with their "decline to state" ballots. The San Diego Registrar of Voters office has been dealing with complaints. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Many "decline to state" voters were caught by surprise to discover they couldn't vote in the republican presidential primary . The California Republican party required voters to register republican to have a vote.

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Some Democrats were also upset. Paulette Kerlinger says she and her husband were not given clear instructions at the polls about which "decline to state "ballot to select. She says her husband missed his opportunity to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate.

He was very angry. It was not explained to him and so he felt his choice was taken away from him by not having more information.

San Diego Registrar of Voters Debra Seiler says most poll workers were given four hours mandatory paid training, the sample ballot booklet had printed instructions and 60,000 postcards went out to "decline to state" mail-in voters.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.