Secretary of State Debra Bowen appeared at the Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting on June 11 to present an award to Marin’s registered voters for having the top-ranked voter turnout in the November 2012 general election. Marin was No. 1 in the state with a turnout of 87.37 percent.
In addition to Marin County Registrar Elaine Ginnold and her Elections Office staff (regular and extra-hire), many volunteers and election officials were on hand for the presentation in the Supervisors’ chambers at the Marin Civic Center’s Administration Building.
One of the County’s longest-serving poll workers, Alice Munoz of Novato, came to the meeting with her Election Day crew. Munoz has been a poll worker in Marin for 50 years, and her home has been a polling place for most of those years.
Also present were representatives from the Marin chapter of the League of Women Voters. Past chapter president Margy Eller coordinates League efforts to put voter registration forms in libraries, post offices, fire stations and schools throughout the county so voters can easily register or update their registration status.
“This is a proud day for us,” Ginnold said. “The voters of Marin deserve recognition for their enthusiastic participation in the election process.”
Secretary Bowen presented a Certificate of the Great Seal of California to the voters. Her office is the keeper of California’s Great Seal, which was adopted at the 1849 Constitutional Convention in Monterey, the year before California became the 31st state in the union on Sept. 9, 1850. The signed certificate reads, in part: “By token of the Great Seal, Secretary of State Debra Bowen takes great pleasure in congratulating the voters of Marin County … for their dedication to democracy and setting an example for all voters in the state.”