Hollister - State lawmakers will wait until at least next year before voting on a bill that would make San Benito County a testing ground for all-mail ballot elections along with several other California counties.
Assembly Bill 867 is being held by the Assembly Election Committee because of unspecified concerns some committee members had about the bill, which would be a preliminary step towards creating all-mail ballot elections throughout California.
The bill authored by Assemblymember Carol Liu, D-La Ca'ada Flintridge, failed to pass the Assembly Elections Committee last month. But last month the committee reconsidered the bill, which is now being held for a vote next session because of committee concerns.
"There were some concerns with the bill that other members had. We're trying to find out what those concerns are and how to address them," said Candice Chung, Liu's press secretary. "If everything goes well it will be voted on in 2006."
Proponents of the bill say that its passage would increase voter participation by giving voters time to study their ballots in the privacy of their own homes rather than having to venture out to polling places where they might feel rushed into making their decisions.
Assemblymember Mike Villines, R-Clovis, voted against the bill last month because he was worried that voting by mail would open elections to voter fraud, he said. Villines also stated that California residents can already choose to vote by mail with an absentee ballot.
If passed, the bill would make voters in San Benito and six other California counties vote by mail for a five-year trial run. During those five years voters in selected counties would be forced to mail their ballots in local, special, primary and general elections rather than vote at polling places. If the trial run was successful, legislators might decide to implement vote by mail throughout the state.
News that the legislators won't vote on the idea until next year at the earliest is, "A bummer for San Benito County," San Benito County Head Elections Official John Hodges said, adding the all-mail ballot would save the county more than $150,000 every election.
"For San Benito County, if we could do an all-mail ballot for general and primary elections a lot of money could be saved by the taxpayers," he said. During every election in San Benito County, the Elections office maintains about 27 polling stations throughout the county and hires about 175 workers and support staff that must be found and trained, Hodges said.
Chances of voter fraud with an all-mail ballot are slim, Hodges said, because his office compares signatures with every mail-in ballot with those voters' signatures to make sure they match before counting the vote.
Earlier this month the county's first all-mail election for Measure L - a bond measure to secure $31.5 million for hospital expansion - garnered about 36 percent voter participation.
"I thought it was a good turnout," Hodges said.
Hodges said state and federal elections usually draw more voters.
In addition to San Benito, Calaveras, Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra and Ventura counties will be part of the vote by mail trial if the bill is passed by the assembly and signed into law by the governor during the next legislative session.
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lroney@freelancenews.com
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