Here's what to look for while watching returns Tuesday night -- and beyond
The Chronicle's JOHN WILDERMUTH: "Tuesday is election day, but there’s no guarantee the country will know right away whether President Trump will be re-elected or Democrat Joe Biden will be the nation’s next president.
For the millions of Americans who will be closely following the results as they come in, there are some important things to remember to put the numbers in perspective.
Turnout predictions are little more than educated guesses, but all indications point to totals that could exceed the 138 million who voted in 2016. In Texas, for example, more early ballots were cast by Friday than the state’s total number of votes four years again."
Moving toward record turnout, 11.2 M Californians have already voted
LA Times's FAITH E PINHO: "More than half of California’s registered voters have already cast their ballot on the eve of election day, according to an established vote-tracking company.
Of the 22 million registered voters this year, 11.2 million — or 51% — had returned their ballots as of 8 a.m. Monday morning, Political Data Inc. reported. The firm, a trusted data source, is a bipartisan voter data company based in California that tracks detailed voter information.
“It’s undeniable, absolutely factual, 100% we’re going to set a record in the total number of votes cast in an election in California,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data."
Haven't voted yet? Here's what to do with your mail-in ballot today
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Still hanging on to your California mail-in ballot?
Don’t worry. You have one more day to make sure it’s counted.
During a normal election year, you’d have to apply to vote by mail. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order earlier this year to automatically send all eligible voters a mail-in ballot so they could vote while maintaining a physical distance from others."
Judge prohibits Newsom from issuing executive orders that amend or create laws
The Chronicle's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "A Sutter County judge on Monday prohibited Gov. Gavin Newsom from issuing executive orders that amend existing laws or create new ones, escalating a battle with a pair of Republican legislators who argue the governor has abused his authority during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a tentative decision, Judge Sarah Heckman struck down a June executive order in which Newsom established new requirements for the November election, ruling that the governor improperly usurped the Legislature’s role by setting regulations for early voting and mail ballot drop-offs.
The decision does not affect existing election procedures, because many of the changes sought by Newsom were subsequently adopted by lawmakers. But it hands a victory to Republican Assemblymen Kevin Kiley of Rocklin (Placer County) and James Gallagher of Nicolaus (Sutter County), vocal critics of Newsom’s pandemic response who sued this summer to stop what they say has been his autocratic approach to the crisis."
After 4 years of upheaval, election day gives voters their say
LA Times's MARK Z BARABAK: "After a campaign of enormous consequence — waged amid a deadly pandemic, an economic collapse and a raw debate over race and justice — Americans on Tuesday will render their verdict on the most divisive and tumultuous four years in modern history.
At bottom, the contest amounts to a referendum on President Trump, his provocative behavior and the upheaval that has turned off more than half the country, polls show, while delighting supporters who welcome the shock to the political system.
“We could say it’s the pandemic, it’s the economic crash, it’s racial justice, it’s a Supreme Court nomination just days before an election,” said Amy Walter, an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, ticking off seismic events of the last year, which also included Trump’s impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden."
SF voters, distressed and determined, might break turnout record set in in 1944
The Chronicle's HEATHER KNIGHT: "Happy Nerve-Racking Election Day!
Many San Franciscans will spend Tuesday doom-scrolling their social media accounts, watching the TV news through their fingers like a horror movie, and drowning their anxiety in booze, weed and Halloween candy. After all, many of them will have already finished the day’s most productive and pressing task: voting.
As of Monday morning, San Franciscans had already cast an astonishing 322,000 ballots, for a turnout of 62% — 24 hours before election day even began. John Arntz, director of the San Francisco Department of Elections, said there’s no question that San Franciscans will cast more ballots this go-around than in any previous election."
Businesses board up windows amid fears of Election Day unrest
Sac Bee's JASON POHL/DALE KASLER: "The plywood was going up again in downtown Sacramento, this time in anticipation of Election Day disturbances.
Several downtown storefronts and office buildings were boarding their windows Monday, echoing similar action taken in major cities around the country as one of the most divisive presidential campaigns in modern history comes to an end.
A crew was sawing plywood at the corner of 12th and J streets about 1 p.m. One block east, two men affixed pre-cut pieces to the windows at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel. A string of offices on J Street near a 7-Eleven appeared to have been boarded up once again."
SV braces for new H-1B rules setting $208K salary floor
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "The Trump Administration’s latest restrictions on workplace immigration will fall on people already working in Silicon Valley and elsewhere on H-1B visas, not just those seeking to enter the country via the prized work permits and pursue new jobs.
H-1B visas, issued to help companies find workers with specific skills, must be reauthorized under a set of common circumstances. And those existing visas, not just newly issued ones, will be subject to new requirements that narrow eligibility for “specialty occupations” and, according to one analysis, substantially increase the minimum salary level to $208,000.
Times when workers could hit the new obstacles include: when they renew their H-1Bs, as required after three years, after six years, and then annually; if they apply for a green card; if they get a new job offer; if they receive a promotion; and if they change their work location — including returning to the office after working from home, something that will happen often as the pandemic continues."
LA County's hope for fast reopening fades as coronavirus cases continue to climb
LA Times's LUKE MONEY: "Hopes that a wider reopening of Los Angeles County’s economy could come in time for the holidays appear to be fading, as the region continues to see a steady uptick in the average number of daily coronavirus infections.
While the spike is nowhere near as severe as those in other parts of the country, L.A. County’s seven-day average has increased from about 940 new cases a day in early October to more than 1,275 each day as of last week, health officials said.
L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced 1,406 new COVID-19 cases Monday, following 1,590 on Sunday. The county’s total now tops 310,000."
Online cheating surges during the pandemic; universities struggle to find a solution
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "James Aguilar stared at his computer screen, unsure which of the four possible answers fit the question on his political economy quiz: “Comparative advantage refers to what?”
Like students everywhere during the pandemic, Aguilar, a junior at San Francisco State University, was attending school and taking a test from home under the watchful eye of no one. It would have been easy to Google the answer, and Aguilar admits he was tempted. But he didn’t.
“A little angel on my shoulder said, ‘Look, don’t be lazy. Do the best that you can with what you know,’” he said. He chose option 2 — “the ability to produce a good or service more efficiently than other countries,” which sounded a lot like the other choices but seemed right."
Failing Ds and Fs surge, attendance slips among LA's poorest students amid distance learning
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME/JULIA BARAJAS: "Grades of D and F have increased in the Los Angeles Unified School District among middle and high school students in a troubling sign of the toll that distance learning — and the coronavirus crisis — is taking on children, especially those who are members of low-income families.
The drop in grades, which also is affecting other school systems, was disclosed Monday when L.A. Unified released a chart based on 10-week interim assessments. Poor grades surged in the district’s lower-income communities, which also is where student attendance rates are lower and where the COVID-19 pandemic has hit especially hard.
“The attendance figures and interim assessments don’t reflect the desire or capability of students,” said L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner in remarks broadcast Monday. “They’re eager to learn and every bit as capable as they were before school facilities closed. But the struggle to cope with COVID-19 and online learning for children and their families is very real.”"
Why homelessness is more visible than ever in downtown Sacramento
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK/THERESA CLIFT/PHILLIP REESE: "Downtown Sacramento, abandoned in March by thousands of office workers when the the coronavirus pandemic struck, is like a world turned inside out.
Work from home orders that emptied office buildings have helped lay bare just how bad Sacramento’s homeless problem is and how little the city, state and social service organizations have succeeded – despite a decade of attempts to address one of Sacramento’s most vexing social issues.
Alarmed by what they say are more encampments and some “aggressive behavior,” 60 members of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership business and property owner group sent Mayor Darrell Steinberg a letter last month saying they believe the homeless issue is putting downtown’s economic future in jeopardy."
