The Adams’ house in Northern California is a house divided. Marcia prefers to cast her ballot by mail and is on a permanent vote-by-mail list. Ted prefers to make his way to his local polling place on Election Day. “I enjoy seeing how many people in my local precinct have voted, getting an “I Voted” sticker, Ted Adams said. “When my children were of an appropriate age, I took them along a number of times, which I felt was beneficial. It is a positive experience.” However, if Senate Bill 450 is approved, Ted may soon be joining Marcia at the kitchen table to fill out his ballot before dropping it in the mail.
Senate Bill 450 would essentially shift the majority of California to the “Colorado Model” of voting. Under this model every registered voter would receive a ballot in the mail and then they would be able to cast the ballot through a variety of ways — mail, in-person at vote centers, or in drop boxes.
With many counties already majority vote-by-mail, Secretary of State Alex Padilla and many local elections officials support the legislation.
San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Chief Election Official Mark Church is supportive of the legislation and also supported AB 2028 that allowed San Mateo to conduct a three-year pilot program of conducting all local elections by mail.
“San Mateo County voters and the majority of California voters have increasingly used voting by mail as the primary method to cast their ballots,” Church said. “The potential benefits of all-mailed ballot elections include increased participation, increased efficiency, reduced costs, reduced risk of human error and earlier returns on election night. Those are the reasons I support all-mailed ballot elections.”
Full Article: electionlineWeekly.