February 07, 2007

"All-Mail Election Voting Has Its Skeptics"

"Oregon already does it, even in presidential elections, but for California, the idea of an all-mail voting system is new and quite controversial. The concept is facing an uphill battle among skeptical lawmakers in Sacramento even though many Bay Area voters seem to like casting their vote at the mailbox.

It's already all the rage in some Bay Area counties -- voting by mail, rather than taking a trip to the local polling place. In fact, in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey and Sonoma counties, a majority of voters used absentee ballots in last November's gubernatorial election.

Steve Weir, Contra Costa Clerk: "It's either permanent absentee or the voter gets their sample ballot and says, 'Oh, I want to vote by mail."

On Wednesday, Contra Costa Clerk, Steve Weir, will head to Sacramento to encourage lawmakers to allow individual counties to choose all mail-in ballots in the 2008 presidential primary, in part, to save money.

Steve Weir: "The suggestion is, if a county board of supervisors says, 'Yes, we want this election all by mail,' that they should be given that option."

But there are those who argue, there's only one proper place to cast a ballot, and it has nothing to do with the U.S. mail."

The article is here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at February 7, 2007 08:51 AM