February 08, 2007

"Mail-only elections on considered"

"Contra Costa County election chief Steve Weir is asking lawmakers today to give California counties the option to conduct mail-only elections in the proposed February presidential primary.

"We have several counties where a majority of the voters already vote by mail," said Weir, also chairman of the California Association of Clerks and Elected Officials, "and they would like the option of a mail-only election if we're going to have four elections in 365 days."

Weir won't seek mail-only for Contra Costa County, where 34 percent of its registered voters cast their ballots by mail.

"I don't think Contra Costa is ready for it," Weir said.

But more than half the voters in Solano, Sonoma, Marin and Monterey counties already vote by mail, Weir said. Under the proposal, each county's Board of Supervisors would make the decision.

Voting by mail is cheaper than precinct voting because it doesn't require trained poll workers or expensive voting machines, "but doing both is the most expensive option," Weir said. "Money is not the guiding issue, but we need to look at what's going to work to get the most people voting and voting successfully."

Weir's request was likely to fall on deaf ears when testifying before the Senate Election Committee in Sacramento today. The association had hoped to incorporate the mail-only ballot option into Senate Bill 113, which would create a February 2008 California presidential primary.

But staffers of legislative leaders on both sides of the political aisle and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration "told me the idea is a non-starter," Weir said.

"The governor is always interested in saving money," Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear said, "but he doesn't want to do something that will hinder the democratic process. That why we have to debate the issue and decide what's best."

A spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said the senator will comment on mail-only voting after the hearing.

Critics fear mail-only voting would disenfranchise citizens who have never voted by mail and may not want to switch. It could also discourage poor people, they say, who may move frequently and have difficulty receiving their mail in a timely manner.

Yet, advocates say voter turn-out remains strong in Oregon, whose voters have cast their ballots entirely by mail since 2004, and Washington state, where 37 of its 39 counties conduct mail-only elections. About a quarter of Californians, on average statewide, vote by mail."

The story is here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at February 8, 2007 09:02 AM