Absentee voters slow to respond As of Wednesday, 40% of voters had returned ballots;

The Press Democrat ^ | Nov. 2, 2006 | BOB NORBERG

[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 40percent 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.

[WVNan]

That's another reason. I don't believe early voting should be allowed. If a person can't get to the polls, they can send an absentee ballot.

[BarbaraS.]

In CA you can automatically get an absentee ballot w/o applying each year. I have had mine for some time but like to wait til closer to election to fill it out.
The ballots have to be returned to the Election Office by
8 pm on the day of election. I will mail me this weekend.