By Christopher Nicholson

By Christopher Nicholson

“The next governor of California nominated today,” ran the headline in the Los Angeles Times. In his statement, the nominee expressed his thanks: “I am exceptionally grateful to Los Angeles and all of Southern California for the staunch support given me in my campaign for the nomination - and I wish, through the Times, to extend them my heartfelt thanks for this magnificent tribute of their trust.”

While this might sound like something out of the mouth of today’s newly elected Democratic nominee for governor, it was actually the statement of a Republican, James Gillett, accepting the nomination for governor Sept. 6, 1906, 99 years and nine months ago.

The Los Angeles Times will no doubt run with a similar headline today (though it will most likely be a little less partisan), and whoever wins the Democratic nomination will most likely make a very similar statement.

Unlike 100 years ago, however, instead of having to read a report printed in the newspaper, which had been sent by wire from the nominating convention (in 1906 the Republican convention was in Santa Cruz), today’s results are available instantly online.

If you want to know more about Tuesday’s election, you can visit some of the following sites. The best spot is the secretary of state’s Web site (www.ss.ca.gov), where you can see the results for all state officials, from governor to state Assembly. The results are broken down by county, so you can see, just as nominee (and later governor) Gillett did, where each candidate received the most support.

If you’re curious about county races, the most complete information is the Santa Clara County registrar of voters (www.sccvote.org), which will have results for all races (including those such as governor), but will only list votes cast in Santa Clara County.

Finally, if you want to see the results just for the races you voted on, the most efficient site is the League of Women Voters (www.smartvoter.org), where you can type your address and zip code in the upper right-hand corner of the page and view “your ballot,” a listing of all the races and results from your area.

Hope you had a great election day, and remember to vote in the general election Nov. 7. If you have any questions about electronic voting machines, the Internet or computers in general, e-mail me at LAtechtalk@gmail.com.

Nicholson of Los Altos is a local computer consultant.