The day after the Nov. 3 Election in Plumas County

November 4, 2020November 6, 2020 Editor

By Debra Moore

The day after the election, Kathy Williams, the Plumas County’s Clerk-Recorder and chief election official reflected on the Nov. 3 balloting.

As it stands now, 81.2 percent of the county’s registered voters turned in their ballots, but that percentage is expected to increase. “A lot of people registered the day of the election and filled out a conditional ballot,” Williams said, noting that now those need to be verified, “and some more will come through the mail.”

Williams acknowledged the local Postal Service offices. “Our Post Office did a wonderful job,” Williams said. “They called us when they had ballots and we sent two people to collect them, and sometimes they made special deliveries for us.”

She said that Postmaster Sandy Rose was in contact with all of the county’s postmasters and they worked together to ensure that ballots were processed in a timely manner.

There’s a good chance that when all of the ballots are countered, voting will break recent totals: 2008, 81.27 percent voted; 2012, 76.69 percent voted; and in the last presidential election in 2016, the total was 83.78 percent. The election office will continue to process ballots as they are turned in with the final count set for Nov. 12.

As for Election Day, Williams said a steady stream of voters dropped off their ballots in the box in front of the courthouse, or entered the building to hand over their ballots in person, or to get a new ballot if they lost theirs, or to register.

Williams reported no issues with voter intimidation as reported in other jurisdictions. She said one man walked up the stairs to the front door of the courthouse carrying a Trump flag, but security informed him that no political flags, signs, or clothing are allowed within 100 feet of a polling location and he left.

Local winners

Voters in Eastern Plumas elected Dwight Ceresola to be their new supervisor representing District 1. He earned 1,096 votes; while Bill Powers received 729.

In the District 2 Supervisor race, Incumbent Kevin Goss will retain his seat. He drew 1,258 votes, to Mike Grant’s 939. Goss awaited the election night results with his children and was surprised to receive the news just after 8 p.m. that he had won.

Joleen Cline retained her seat on the Plumas Unified School District Board of Trustees garnering 5,860 votes. Her challenger, teacher Gayanna Miller, received 3,173 votes.

Four individuals were vying for two seats on the Eastern Plumas Health Care Board of Directors. Incumbent Dr. Paul Swanson and former employee Linda Satchwell were the top two vote earners with 1,907 and 1,235 votes respectively. Two others also sought a seat on the board. Tessa Clawson garnered 483 votes and Jason Christian earned 744.

For a full list of how Plumas County voters cast their ballot on the state and national level, view Plumas County election results by going to https://www.plumascounty.us/DocumentCenter/View/28323/Summary-Report

First Congressional District

According to the California Secretary of State’s Office, incumbent Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a Republican, retained his seat with 55 percent of the vote to challenger Audrey Denney’s 45 percent as of Wednesday morning Nov. 5. This is the second time that the Democrat challenged LaMalfa.

State Senate and Assembly

The Republican husband-wife duo of Brian Dahle and Megan Dahle retained their respective seats. Brian Dahle earned 56.9 percent of the vote in the First Senate District to 43.1 percent for challenger, Pam Swartz, a Democrat.