Comments on: Don’t forget extra postage when you vote by mail

By: Mary VanDerostyne

Mary VanDerostyne — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:01:52 +0000

Out here in San Joaquin County the postage is covered by the Registrar of Voters, “..if mailed in the United States”. ALL counties should provide this service, in my humble opinion.

By: hypocriticalyes?

hypocriticalyes? — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:37:06 +0000

If the right to vote is of so little importance that you would quibble about 59cents than perhaps you would be better staying home and not voting.

By: Kalen

Kalen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:04:04 +0000

OK, it SAYS that Alameda’s ballot won’t require extra postage, but when I weighed my ballot, it’s over 1 oz. So theoretically I do need to put extra postage. So I don’t know where the information is coming from. It’s really frustrating. I’m putting extra postage just in case.

By: Arne Simonsen

Arne Simonsen — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:36:05 +0000

Steve, what would be interesting to know is what is your “cost per voter” at polling places on election day? My guess is that it is higher than 59-cents per polling place voter.

Voters don’t have to pay anything extra to vote at a polling place, so isn’t the 59-cents an absentee voter has to pay in effect a “tax”?

What would you do if Contra Costa was to go to all mail ballots? Would you budget be cut (since there would be no costs for all the polling place personnel) or would voters receive “Postage Paid” return envelopes?

By: Xavier

Xavier — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:25:00 +0000

The fact that we have such primitive means of voting still baffles me. In other countries electronic voting has been in place for years and has worked without blatant flaws. Plus you get all the results within a few hours.

Also, can’t they do a usability study before putting together the ballot? Honestly, the information is scattered every where so people easily miss the info…

Lastly, what is the deal with a *thin* line? As long as the arrow is connected it should work. And it does actually, (I checked with them) but the instructions give you the impression that it must be a *thin* line.

Anyway, I did not see the postage flyer at first, but I looked for it and found it.

Thanks for the tip. It proves again that if you want info look on the web…

By: steve weir

steve weir — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:13:12 +0000

We have a postage due account and (in theory), no mail should be delayed due to insufficient postage. However, why risk it? We included a one-half page flyer, BIG PRINT, telling Contra Costa voters that $0.59 in postage is required to return our vote by mail ballots.

We have an excellent working relationship with the USPS and we are in contact with them, twice a day, to make sure that we are receiving our mail in a timely manner. (We meet with the top execs and manages of the Oakland District before every major election.)

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:39:01 +0000

There was a one-page flyer included with my ballot that explained the postage. I didn’t have a problem, but I can see with all the paper how it could get lost in the shuffle. Next time it might be better to print it on colored paper (maybe one of those bright fluorescent colors) so it catches one’s attention.

By: Daniel Abundis

Daniel Abundis — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:35:01 +0000

Unless I was to busy reading all the other instructions, I didn’t see anything about using additional postage. And I reviewed the county elections website and there was no information about additional postage. So will my vote count or not? After learning about this well kept secret.