More and more people are voting from the comfort of their homes, rather than venturing out to the polls on Election Day.
And why not? Voters can sit down, have some coffee and take their time making choices. When they're done voting, the ballot box is no farther than the nearest mailbox.
It's a trend occurring nationwide, as well as in San Diego County, where close to half the voters used absentee ballots in the June election.
But election officials predict the extraordinarily long California ballot, coupled with a record-high number of absentee votes, will lead to the longest lag time ever before some outcomes are known.
The California Association of Clerks and Election Officials is urging absentee voters to turn in their ballots early, so they may be counted on election night.
“We have been tracking absentee ballots and about 10 percent don't make the semi-official results on election night,” said Contra Costa County Registrar Steve Weir, the association's president.
“It is probably going to approach 14 or 15 percent this time, as more people are voting by mail,” Weir said.
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Absentee ballots
Tuesday is Election Day and 1,650 polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There are, however, several ways to vote without going to the polls:
 Absentee ballots may be obtained at the Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa, 5201 Ruffin Road, Suite I. It is too late to request one by mail.
Absentee ballots may be mailed back, hand-delivered to the registrar's office, or taken to any polling place on Election Day, as long as they are at the registrar's office by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Voters may cast ballots at the registrar's office, using a paper or electronic ballot, now through Tuesday. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Monday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
For more information on absentee voting, and to view voter turnout records for past elections, visit www.sdvote.com.
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San Diego County has already issued a record number of absentee ballots – almost 423,000 as of Tuesday morning. The most absentee ballots previously issued were 387,000 for the November 2005 special statewide election.
The number will increase, as voters continue to vote early at the registrar's office or pick up absentee ballots to be returned later.
Some California counties promote absentee voting in hopes of reducing chaos at the polls.
“We send a postcard out to all voters and advise them that's an option,” said Solano County Registrar Deborah Seiler. “We've nearly doubled the number of permanent absentee voters.”
Others, such as Los Angeles, discourage absentee voting.
“I have 5,028 precincts to set up regardless of how many people vote absentee,” said Los Angeles County Registrar Conny McCormack. “The bottom line is it's running two elections, and it's expensive.”
San Diego County's registrar has mixed feelings.
Mikel Haas said he would like to have absentee ballots back early enough to have them counted on Election Day. So far about 116,000 absentee ballots have been returned, a little more than one-quarter of those issued. But Haas doesn't ask voters to send them in early; he doesn't believe it's his place to tell people when and how to vote.
In the June primary, more than 45 percent of San Diego County voters cast absentee ballots, compared with 26 percent in the last gubernatorial primary in 2002.
Haas believes no more than 50 percent will vote absentee in next week's election. More voters tend to turn out in person for general elections, he said.
Smaller elections, however, often prompt more mailbox voting. In fact, the 50 percent mark has been exceeded three times in the past year and a half – in the 50th Congressional District special election in April, Oceanside's special election in June 2005 and the Rainbow Municipal Water District recall in March 2005.
Those votes were counted quickly.
But Tuesday's ballots will have 50 or more items, thanks in large part to the 13 statewide propositions, one countywide proposition and 19 others in various areas of the county.
“The length of the ballot will slow us down,” Weir said. “It is very manually labor intensive.”
State law allows election officials 28 days after the election to complete and certify the tally. Usually absentee ballots that were turned in on Election Day are not counted until afterward, along with write-in votes on paper ballots and provisional ballots (those in which there is some question about the ballot or the voter's registration).
Some voters dislike the idea that their vote won't be counted until after the election. A lawsuit was filed against Haas on Monday demanding that all absentee and other paper ballots be counted on Election Day – a feat the registrars agree would likely be impossible.
Haas said that regardless of when the ballots are counted, they will be counted.
Some registrars view the increase in absentee voting as more of a blessing than a hassle. “What I've found is as the number of permanent absentees grows, the turnout grows,” said Marin County Registrar Elaine Ginnold. In Marin, 57 percent of the votes cast in the June primary were absentees. “It's done a lot to increase voter participation,” she said.
Leslie Branscomb:
(619) 498-6630; leslie.branscomb@uniontrib.com
