October 6, 2008 - ABSENTEE VOTING GETS UNDER WAY THIS WEEK - OFFICIALS PREDICT RECORD TURNOUT OF REGISTERED VOTERS 60 PERCENT EXPECTED TO VOTE BY MAIL

Paper: Press Democrat, The ( Santa Rosa, CA)
Title: ABSENTEE VOTING GETS UNDER WAY THIS WEEK - OFFICIALS PREDICT RECORD TURNOUT OF REGISTERED VOTERS 60 PERCENT EXPECTED TO VOTE BY MAIL
Date: October 6, 2008
Author: BLEYS W. ROSE, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

More than 152,000 absentee ballots are at the main Santa Rosa post office

this morning, ready for delivery to Sonoma County registered voters who have

the next month to make their decisions.

Given intense voter interest -- especially with presidential, city council

and county supervisorial elections crowding the ballot -- county election

officials predict better than 90 percent of the county's 238,000 registered

voters will cast ballots by Nov. 4.

``We had a record 89.4 percent turnout the last presidential election , so I

think it is safe to say we will get over 90 percent this time,'' said County

Clerk Janice Atkinson. ``I can't remember an election when there was more

interest than this one.''

The percentage of voters casting absentee ballots in Sonoma County is

traditionally among the highest in the state, and officials predict that well

over 60 percent of the total vote will be delivered through the mail. But

whether those ballots will be returned sooner or later is anybody's guess.

``We'd like to get them back as soon as possible because we have to verify

every signature,'' Atkinson said. ``But I don't know how we get past human

nature to procrastinate.''

Voters who signed up for regular receipt of absentee ballots should receive

theirs by midweek. The county elections office received a record 5,200

requests from voters who wanted one-time-only absentee ballots for this

election.

Voter information pamphlets from the state and county elections offices

should arrive in the mail no later than this week or early next week. Because

of a recent change in state law, each household with a registered voter will

receive only one pamphlet on state issues and candidates instead of one for

every registered voter.

This year, Sonoma County's absentee ballots have been redesigned with a

separate mailing envelope added so that the voter signature does not appear on

the outside when it is returned in the mail. Atkinson said privacy concerns

for the security of voter signatures led the county to provide a separate

return envelope.

Despite the healthy number of candidates and issues on the Nov. 4 ballot,

the county elections office managed to fit it all on three cards in most

cases, four cards in some.

The largest election ballot in county history involved nine cards.

On Election Day, the county will still open 306 polling places even though

at least 60 percent of all ballots will be cast through the mail, said Gloria

Colter, assistant registrar of voters. State law, she said, prevents county

elections offices from consolidating precincts with more than 1,000 voters, a

number that includes those who vote by mail.

In an effort to encourage early voting, Colter said, the county will open

several locations on the Saturday and Sunday before the Nov. 4 where voters

can drop off their absentee ballots.

Through a technicality in vote counting procedure, the absentee ballots

received on Nov. 4 at the county elections office -- either by mail or dropped

off at the polls -- are not counted until weeks after election night when

officials conduct the official vote tally for the state.

All absentee ballots received before election day are the first votes

counted, a procedure that election workers begin immediately upon closure of

polling places. Absentees also are the first results released on election

night.

``If you to make sure that your absentee ballot gets counted on election

night, we encourage voters to get them in before election day,'' Colter said.

Atkinson said voters who treasure the ``I Voted'' stickers, usually

obtained only at the polls, will now find them in their absentee ballots.

``Hopefully, getting that sticker in the mail removes the last obstacle to

procrastinate on voting until election day,'' Atkinson said.

Edition: CITY
Section: LOCAL
Page: B1
Index Terms: ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Record Number: 0810060166
Copyright (c) 2008 The Press Democrat ( Santa Rosa, CA)