Comments on: CoCo election chief predicts 60 percent turnout

By: steve weir

steve weir — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:04:53 +0000

John W., yikes, everyone’s vote counts. You never know if a race is going to be close. But, when it is, the votes cast by mail towards election day, will make the difference.

For me, you can’t have it both ways.

So, a vote, is a vote, is a vote.

You can’t second guess this, or try to make “book” on it.

By: John W

John W — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 02:47:47 +0000

Re #23

Although I understand the practicalities, I’ll bet most people who wait until election day to drop off their ballots don’t understand that their votes aren’t counted at the same time as people who vote at the polling place. People like the idea of being able to change their mind right up until election day. They also like the idea of participating in the process by physically showing up at the polling place rather than just mailing in the ballot. Unless it’s a close race, with the outcome determined by the post-election counting of mail-in ballots, a ballot not delivered by Saturday is, in effect, meaningless. That kind of makes me think I might not want to continue being a permanent vote-by-mail voter.

By: steveweir

steveweir — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:29:30 +0000

Ted, good question. Any voter can return their voted ballot to any polling place within their county. We recommend not mailing ballots after the Friday before the election. It should be sealed and you must sign your own envelope.

If a member of your family or household is ill, or unable to go to the polls, they can designate a family member or any member of their household to deliver the ballot to the polls on their behalf. (Note; there’s an authorization section on the back flap.)

In an election like this, we can receive 20% of the total vote-by-mail vote cast at the polls and in our office on election day.

If you want you ballot to make the election night tally, we need to have it by Saturday. Otherwise, we count the ballots that come in the last few days during the post election canvass.

By: ted ford

ted ford — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:49:01 +0000

Steve,
In the event you haven’t gotten around to mailing it and you don’t want to miss the deadline, can you simply take your “vote by mail” ballot — which you have filled out on your kitchen table — to the polling place and drop it in the box? If so, should it be in the sealed and signed envelope?

By: John W

John W — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:12:40 +0000

Yes, it would have been nice to see newspaper endorsements for the AD 15 and DA races by now. Good to see comments from Steve that the voting is picking up speed. Normally, I would have mailed in my ballot by now. Chose this year to hold off until late, because my opinion was in flux on some of the contests. I suspect a lot of people who fully intend to vote are in the same situation. Polls show 10% still undecided in the governor’s race.

By: steve weir

steve weir — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:12:12 +0000

# 19, Thanks for the question.

We have arranged with the Post Office to pass ALL vote by mail through to us. We have been doing that for years. I’ll pay for the insufficient postage.

However, yesterday, I received a call from someone who did not put postage on their ballot and it was returned to them.

We understand that the USPS has drilled into their carriers heads that they should not accept mail with insufficient postage. So, even with a guarantee from the Oakland Processing Center, just to be safe, it is advised that people put adequate postage on their vote-by-mail envelope.

I’m doing a spot check on postage and the vast majority of voters place adequate (or more) on their return envelope.

By: hilltopper

hilltopper — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 04:21:23 +0000

Mr. Weir,

My wife and I just put 78 cents on our ballot envelopes, so it matters not to us, but do you know what will happen to those people who just stick on a first class stamp?

By: steve weir

steve weir — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:54:28 +0000

Ted Ford, good question. While we have issued over 260,000 vote by mail ballots, a decade of stats tell me that 50% of the Vote-by-Mail ballots come in during the first three weeks of voting (and thus 50% come in during the last nine days.) I have not had my daily report due to today’s high volume, but we are scarcely over 30,000 ballots returned. Lots of voting yet to come.

This election looks like it is catching fire (interest).

We had one of the best days for returned ballots ever. We’ll see if that’s an anomaly or if this election will catch the interest of our voters.

By: Lisa Vorderbrueggen

Lisa Vorderbrueggen — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:59:51 +0000

I’m not on the editorial board, so I don’t play a role in when or how they make those decisions. But I did sit in during an editorial board meeting today with the two AD15 candidates, so I would expect an endorsement will be forthcoming. My sense is that the editorial board is overwhelmed with the large volume of races and ballot measures this year.

By: ted ford

ted ford — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:42:28 +0000

Lisa,

Why has the Times had nothing to say endorsement-wise in the Buchanan v. Wilson race? By this point, probably half of the electorate or more has already voted by mail. I would think a pivotal Assembly race merits the timely attention of your editorial board