Californian voters cast ballots for midterm elections

With a record high number of Californians registered for this year's midterm elections, voters in the Golden State on the U.S. West Coast went to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots for the high-stakes elections.

A total of 19,696,371 Californians were registered to vote at the deadline on Oct. 22, an increase of 1,892,548 since the last gubernatorial election in 2014, according to data released by Secretary of State of California Alex Padilla's office last week.

At a polling site at the Irvine City Hall, the parking lot was full of cars and it took journalists over 10 minutes to find a parking. People waited in long lines to cast their votes.

Mary Ann Gaido, who used to be a member of the Irvine City Council and now a volunteer, told Xinhua that voters turning out on the Election Day were "many many times" more than that of four years ago.

She said the reason is that change is needed.

Voters in all 50 U.S. states are casting ballots Tuesday in the 2018 midterm elections, which will have profound impact on U.S. politics for the next two years. Today's vote will decide control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as state and local office holders.

Nearly 4 million Californians cast their ballots early, mostly by mail, which suggested higher-than-average turnout for a midterm, according to local media reports.

Kev Abazajian, professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, said the early voting rate increased 3 percent over that of four years ago.

"Many people are unhappy with the direction of their federal government today. Lots of political activities are going on to get changes to happen. That's why more voters show up to cast their ballots," said Abazajian, who is running for member of the Irvine City Council.

"I don't like what's going on with our city-level leadership. We need to have fact-based representation. We should get scientists involved to ensure rhetoric is proved by facts," he added.

To many voters, one of the most pressing issues for the United States is the rise of hate against groups that have been marginalized for centuries.

"There is strong polarization right now, lot of misinformation, hatred of foreign people, immigrants, and minorities in the U.S. It is not what America should be," said Abazajian, who was born in Armenia and moved to the United States during his childhood.

At a polling place at Santa Anita Church, Arcadia, there were indicators in nine languages directing people to cast ballots.

"Immigration, border control and tax policies are among the major issues that we are concerned," said an Asian-American man in his 60s, who was reluctant to be named.

He said Asians and other minority groups should register to vote to influence decision-making and defend their own rights.

The remarks was echoed by Abazajian. "We should reach out to immigrant groups, and let them understand this is the most powerful thing we can do to determine our future."

"Changes may not happen overnight, but in two years, five years, or ten years. When our kids are grown up, they can see the real change," he added.