Special General Election for District 4 State Senate vacancy is Jan. 8

Siskiyou County Clerk Colleen Setzer announced today that the Jan. 8, 2013 Special General Election "has not generated a lot of interest."

The election will determine which candidate fills the vacancy in State Senate District 4. The candidates are Jim Nielsen and Michael "Mickey" Harrington.

In a previous press release from Setzer, she said, "Although statewide redistricting completed in 2011 moved Siskiyou County from Senate District 4 to Senate District 1, Siskiyou County voters will participate in this special election. This is because Siskiyou County was in Senate District 4 at the time the office was originally voted on. State law and court decisions require that all special elections to fill a legislative vacancy include the original district that voted on the position."

The special election is required, according to Setzer, because no candidate received a majority of all the votes cast in the special primary election held Nov. 6, 2012.

Republican Nielsen was the top vote-getter District-wide with 49.8 percent. Harrington, a Democrat, had the second-most votes at 27.7 percent.

Setzer reported that of the 16,018 ballots that have been mailed out to Siskiyou County voters, only 6,070 had been voted and returned as of this morning.

She reminds voters that poll locations throughout the county will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. A list of polling locations can be found on the Elections website at www.sisqvotes.org. She also reminds voters in the Edgewood Precinct that their poll location has moved to the Sons of Italy Hall, 155 Clay Street, Weed.

For those voting by mail, their ballot must reach the Clerk's Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Vote-by-mail voters can return their voted ballots to any poll location on January 8th or drop them off at the County Clerk's Office, 510 N. Main Street, Yreka.

The County Clerk's Office will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to issue and receive ballots. After 8 p.m., the Clerk's Office will remain open, for the purpose of issuing election results and receiving election supplies and ballots from the polls.

Siskiyou County election results will be available after 8:30 p.m. at the Clerk's Office or online at www.sisqvotes.org.

District-wide election results will be posted on the California Secretary of State's website, www.sos.ca.gov.

Any questions regarding the Special Election can be directed to the Siskiyou County Clerk's Office, at 842-8084.