Posted on 11/02/2006 11:13:18 AM PST by jmaroneps37
If absentee voting is any indication, interest in this year's election has waned, political observers said Wednesday.
With Election Day less than a week off, 40 percent of absentee voters have returned ballots, compared to 53 percent by this time during the June primary.
Campaign strategists attribute the numbers to disinterest and a long ballot.
"At a congressional level, at the gubernatorial level, many of the voters believe the races are fairly well decided and they are not compelled to vote," said Brian Sobel of Petaluma, a political consultant.
That is complicated by the length of the ballot that includes state, local and judicial offices and about a dozen propositions and local measures.
"It is a long, convoluted ballot," said Terry Price, the campaign manager for a Santa Rosa City Council candidate. "How do you vote on the judges? That always throws people for a loop. There is one whole card of judges' names. The ballot should have a user's manual telling people how it works. If you try to read the voter pamphlet, it will put you to sleep."
Adding to the disinterest is a general dissatisfaction among voters across the country, said Herb Williams, campaign manager for three Santa Rosa council candidates.
"I think they are turned off at the presidential level, turned off at the congressional level, and there is no race for the state capital," he said.
"There is so much dissatisfaction, a lack of satisfaction, and being told the governor's race is already over ... as we say, 'So what's the hook?'"
As of Wednesday, absentee voters had returned 40 percent of the 141,557 ballots that have been mailed and handed out, said Liz Acosta, Sonoma County's election manager.
Absentees are still coming in, about 6,000 a day, but that is less than the normal flow, Acosta said.
And as Election Day nears, fewer will trust the mail to get ballots to the county in time and will drop them off at polling places instead. That means they won't be processed until after Election Day ballots are counted.
Absentee voters account for more than half of the county's 233,951 registered voters, and the slow return could portend a turnout lower than the 70 percent that was predicted by County Clerk Eeve Lewis.
Teams of Sonoma County workers began processing the absentee ballots Tuesday, opening envelopes, checking signatures and inspecting the ballots to make sure they can be read by a card scanner on Election Day.
Absentee ballots received by the weekend will be the first counted when the polls close. Because they increasingly represent a cross-section of voters, they can offer an early indication of the final results.
But it can take a week or more to count the absentees received on Election Day, leaving the outcome of some close contests up in the air.
In largely rural Mendocino County, the county mailed out 33,583 absentee ballots, which account for 70 percent of its registered voters. It has received 30 percent of the absentees back, a slightly higher than average number, election officials said.
In Lake County, 14,611 absentees were mailed and 30 percent have been returned, slightly below normal, officials said. The county has 31,564 registered voters.
Jmarone, have you heard anything about Nick Lampson rumours that he will switch to GOP if he wins the TX 22? Maybe a ploy to get more GOP voters?
Ohhh...this is California. Republicans there gave up a long time ago. The state is owned by Stalinists and they know it. The rest of the country is having a great time of early and absentee ballots.
On the contrary (around the country, anyway). I saw a segment on FOX showing increased use of absentee and early voting.
The reason this article doesn't mention that little tid bit is because early reports say absentee and early voting so far favors........Republicans. Yay!
There are no embattled seats in Nor Cal except for Richard Pombo and the Sonoma area is not in his district. The best this can do is help McClintock and Poochigian races for state level seats
Here where I live in rural West Tennessee, which means little in the grand scheme, early voting has been heavier than the last election. Republicans hold a slight majority--about 58 percent--in the county based on past elections.
OK, but all-in-all if turnout is real low in Sonoma and the Bay Area, that's a GOOD thing.
Same here. We turned in two absentee ballots and they were a straight Republican ticket.
My wife and I sent in our CA absentee ballots the day after we received them. I think that Angelides is going to hurt the Dems in the down ticket statewide races.
Gonna be ballot securtiy attorney in election day for the GOP in Alabama!
LOL! I knew what you meant! :)
The good news is that absentee voting in Ohio favors Republicans by a healthy margin. :)
Good for you.
We've been not too gently reminding friends and family to get their ballots in. A few have said they appreciated the reminder because the ballots were still sitting on a desk somewhere.
Go McClintock!!!
Go Poochigian!!!
GO VOTE!!!!!
Nope. Won't do it. Gives the Rats too much opportunity to mess with my vote. Most of the public "servants" in my county are dims.
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