All-mail ballot: County seeks emergency legislation All-mail ballot: County seeks emergency legislation (February 01, 2006)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

To be ready for the primary election June 6, San Mateo County needs to have its new voting machines certified by the state and delivered by March 10 -- less than six weeks away.

And its present voting machines don't meet the federal requirement to provide people with disabilities a place to vote independently and in secret.

Faced with this intractable deadline, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors January 24 voted unanimously to request emergency statewide legislation that would allow all California counties to conduct the June primary entirely by mail.

"All-mail election is a viable option," said Chief Election Officer Warren Slocum. "Nearly half of the voters in California have already voluntarily opted to vote by mail by signing up to be permanent absentee voters."

The county is now scrambling to find sponsors for such legislation, said election department spokeswoman Carol Marks. Several other counties are interested, she said.

Contacted in Sacramento, state Sen. Joe Simitian agreed the county's concern is well-founded. It's caught in the crossfire between complying with federal law and using technology in transition. "I want to be helpful," he said.

The deadline is serious. As of last week, Mr. Slocum said he heard from the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento that certification of the new equipment was likely to come in mid-March. "That's late, really late," he said.

The county needs to have its new machines in place by March 10 when the candidate nominations close, Mr. Slocum said in a staff report. That's when the department has to begin designing more than 350 ballots needed to accommodate political jurisdictions, party choices and language options.

To assure integrity of the election, the department also needs time to acquire and test the new machines, and time to educate the staff, poll workers and public on how to use the new system, Mr. Slocum said.

There's nothing new about voting by mail. Forty-eight percent of Californians voted by mail in last November's special election, Mr. Slocum said.

He estimates an all-mail election in June would save San Mateo County taxpayers $650,000.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.