The Buzz column, Nov. 8

Residents casting their votes at Los Alisos Middle School reported an incident to the blog on Election Day. According to the report, Trish Kelley was campaigning on campus – trolling for votes as residents arrived at the neighborhood polling place – and the principal asked her to leave. He told her classes were in session and it was inappropriate for her to campaign on school property. Kelley allegedly told him it was her right to be there, and he could call her attorney if he disagreed. Consider that Kelley blatantly campaigns on “her” Capistrano school district turf while reporting others to the administration to get them removed by the police if necessary. Is Kelley still promoting herself as Mission Viejo’s queen of character?

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More than 10,000 campaign signs are coming down quickly. Slowest to remove signs are Kelley and Neil Lonsinger, who both posted extraordinary numbers of signs. Throughout the campaign, a city contractor (“Chuck”) was on duty to confiscate signs for the city, taking them by the Jeep-load to a secured area near city hall. According to one campaign volunteer who followed him, Chuck made no distinction between signs on public or private property. He showed the volunteer a copy of his contract, outlining that he was to take signs from public property along city arterials. The volunteer also said Chuck was counting the signs he delivered, as if his pay were based on how many signs he bagged.

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The Registrar of Voters’ tally for Election Day gives the following information: total number of voters registered in Orange County – 1,497,397. Total votes cast in this election – 588,335. Turnout was 39.3 percent, which is abysmal. Of the 39.3 percent, those who went to their polling place accounted for approximately 24 percent, and absentee ballots accounted for approximately 15 percent. Republicans who commented to blog staffers indicated three factors discouraged their base from voting: 1) the war in Iraq, 2) Republicans turning into big spenders, 3) failure of Republicans in power to stop illegal immigration. Democrats who contacted the blog commented only about their dissatisfaction with the city election, specifically the prospect of incumbents back in office.

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Mission Viejo’s total number of registered voters was 59,235 in July, and the number likely rose by the Nov. 7 election. The number of eligible voters isn’t known because the Registrar of Voters’ rolls include a substantial number of dead people. This is not an exaggeration.

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City council candidates totaled 59,211 votes as of Friday morning. Individual tallies on Friday morning were Kelley (9,644), Ledesma (8,431), MacLean (6,817), Greenwood (6,787), Barker (5,053), Lonsinger (5,046), Ferrall (4,883), McCusker (4,461), Woodin (4,305) and Skalsky (3,784). Given that each voter had three votes to cast in the council race, the potential total was approximately 180,000 votes. Despite having 10 choices, voter enthusiasm about the council race was clearly lacking.

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The Registrar of Voters has 28 days to certify the election. Interested residents can then get details about how their precincts voted or other breakouts of election data in the RoV’s official Statement of Votes. MacLean was quoted in the Nov. 10 Saddleback Valley News, indicating a recount will likely follow the “final count” for the third council seat. Considering the contentious nature of MacLean and Greenwood, residents should be thankful if they don’t determine the outcome with a mud-wrestling match in front of city hall.