Taxes, Medicare drive Modesto voters to 2020 primary election polls
Dianne Portnoi had taxes and health care on her mind Tuesday evening as she waited for her turn to vote at North Modesto Church of God, where about 20 people stood in line.
The 67-year-old planned to reject Proposition 13, a bond for public schools, because tax rates would drive her out of the state if it weren’t for her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren living in California.
National conversations over “Medicare for All” also concerned Portnoi, who is a registered Republican and said she would vote red up and down the ballot.
“I’m paying for my insurance and I’ll be paying for Medicare when I retire,” she said. “I’m still working because of medical. Everyone deserves to have it, but we don’t give it free to illegals and everybody else.”
A couple steps behind her, Cierra Walsh, 40, disagreed. A mother of a son with pre-existing conditions, she said the proposal by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders would improve her family’s finances and prevent others from resorting to GoFundMe campaigns for medical care.
“The cost of private insurance when you have multiple pre-existing conditions and cannot work is sky high,” Walsh said. “I have three jobs so I can pay for my child to have health insurance, for no fault of his own.”
Locally, Walsh said re-electing Rep. Josh Harder was her priority because he supports protections for pre-existing conditions. After about 30 minutes in line, Walsh marked her ballot and inserted it in Stanislaus County’s new voting machine, which briefly caused trouble earlier in the day.
Poll volunteer Kathy Frew, 71, said the machine didn’t accept voters’ ballots when the station opened. About 30 minutes later, the volunteers discovered they needed to ask voters to tear off their stubs. Frew said the station’s volunteers, all affiliated with the Modesto singing group River Lights Chorus, could have benefited from more training.
“They’re new machines and we are not young people,” Frew said. “We don’t always speak the language of computers or mechanics but we eventually get it done.”
Other than the initial stub issue, Frew said voting went smoothly at the busy station, where voters lined up throughout the day. Both first-time voters and 90-year-olds cast their ballots there, Frew said, and picked up a piece of chocolate with their sticker.
Emiliano Figueroa, 19, was one of the Modesto residents who cast his first ballot at the station. Voting in March instead of in June didn’t make much of a difference to him, but taxes also compelled him to come out to the polls.
“There’s such a huge disparity in paying taxes for the working class compared to the upper class, the rich folks,” Figuerora said. “Something has to change.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 9:09 PM.
