Quick Take
Residents took to polling places around Santa Cruz County on Election Day to make their voices heard on races and ballot measures at the local, state and national levels.
Santa Cruz County voters took to the polls on Election Day across 24 polling locations, come rain or shine.
As voters arrived to the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in Aptos on Tuesday afternoon, they were encouraged to “vote naked inside.”
“It’s warmer in there,” read an addendum to the handwritten sign.
While clothes are still required, poll workers joked, voters could take their mail-in ballot out of the envelope to have their vote counted immediately instead of the standard 48 hours it takes to process mail-in ballots.
Lead election worker Louise Johnson, who donned a shirt reading “Ask me how to vote naked,” said the process is “saving time and money for our community.”
Inside, voters cast their ballots in the main sanctuary of St. John’s. Aptos voter Marie, who declined to give her last name, came to vote with her husband and two children. “It’s their first time to see somebody vote,” she said of her son and daughter.
Marie said she voted no on Proposition 39, which requires all California voters to provide identification to vote, because it seemed “a little unnecessary.” She said she also voted against tax increases, which were on the ballot at the state and local levels.
ELECTION 2026: Read more of Lookout’s free news and Community Voices opinion coverage here
“I feel like we’re getting taxed a lot already. We’re just getting squeezed,” she said. “I’m all for paying your fair share, but things are just getting a little too expensive. As taxpayers I feel like we pay enough.”
David Cecy said he was proud to vote Tuesday, after becoming a United States citizen five years ago. Two of the most important races for him were the governor of California and Proposition 40, which imposes a one-time 5% tax on certain taxpayers with assets over $1 billion.
“There’s some hidden stuff in Prop 40 that I just didn’t want to rear its ugly head someday,” Cecy said. “I think we need a change in philosophy. One party controls the entire state, and that’s not healthy. I don’t care what party it is, it is just not healthy.”
Richie Andazola, who voted at the Santa Cruz County Government Center on Tuesday afternoon, also said Prop 40 was an important ballot measure for him.
Andazola said he used resources from his labor union and the Santa Cruz chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, in addition to having conversations, to combat any misinformation.
“It’s very interesting to see how deceiving the commercials for Prop 41 and 42 were,” Andazola said. “It was a good opportunity to have conversations with my friends that we typically wouldn’t have.”
A “yes” vote for either Prop 41 or 42 would invalidate the “billionaire tax” of Prop 40, according to CalMatters.
While Andazola was excited to vote for a “socialist-leaning” mayor in Santa Cruz, he said he believes that the most change comes from “direct action.”
“I always have and always will participate in voting, but I think I’m in the larger group of people in this country here, that’s just like, ‘This is just a charade,’” he said. “We should all vote, but we will not liberate ourselves as a class of people from capitalism.”
Frankie M., who works in the healthcare industry in Watsonville, voted yes on Measure E, which would raise taxes by half a cent to fund the county and its community partners, including hospitals.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that a lot of the public hospitals are going to close or at a big risk of closing if they don’t have some form of money coming in, because the federal government is cutting so much for these public hospitals,” Frankie said.
In the Santa Cruz mayoral race, Frankie leaned toward Ami Chen Mills because of her “gentler touch” on issues such as homelessness.
“Especially right now, when more and more people are going to become unhoused, just because everything is more expensive, it feels a little extra cruel,” Frankie said. “We’re all pretty much a couple paychecks away, especially here with the high cost of living. That could be us soon.”
County Clerk Tricia Webber said every ballot in Santa Cruz County will be tabulated at the government center. She expects in-person votes to be tallied by midnight or 1 a.m., with mail-in ballots taking longer.
Webber encouraged everyone to come out and vote despite the “daunting” number of races on the ballot.
“There’s a lot on there to digest and research,” Webber said. “Voting’s not a test, so if you are not prepared to vote on everything, vote on what matters the most to you and leave the rest of it blank. We will not nullify your ballot if it’s not fully filled out.”
One polling location at Simpkins Family Swim Center was temporarily closed for 30 minutes due to unrelated police activity, according to a media release from the county. Webber confirmed that the situation was resolved around 4 p.m. The facility is safe and secure, and no ballots were affected.
All county voting locations are open until 8 p.m. Find your closest voting location here.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
