One week before Election Day on Nov. 2, San Benito County’s
voting official said absentee ballots were
”
trickling in at a slower rate
”
than in previous elections, which he said could mean voters are
merely taking their time before deciding on candidates and
propositions.
More than 14,000 of the county’s nearly 25,000 registered voters
received a vote-by-mail ballot this year. Of those 58 percent
absentee voters, nearly 29 percent had returned their ballots by
Oct. 26, one week before the election.
One week before Election Day on Nov. 2, San Benito County’s voting official said absentee ballots were “trickling in at a slower rate” than in previous elections, which he said could mean voters are merely taking their time before deciding on candidates and propositions.
More than 14,000 of the county’s nearly 25,000 registered voters received a vote-by-mail ballot this year. Of those 58 percent absentee voters, nearly 29 percent had returned their ballots by Oct. 26, one week before the election.
County elections official Joe Paul Gonzalez said the recent trend is that voters are more likely to hold onto their ballots longer – perhaps up until Election Day – as they contemplate their choices.
“It’s not exactly what the vote-by-mail ballot was intended to do,” he said. “It would be preferable if people made up their minds sooner and turned in their ballots sooner so we could spread the work out over time. It actually creates a real crunch for us on Election Day if they turn their ballots in then. The processing of the vote-by-mail ballots is more work than if somebody votes at the polls.”
While elections officials cannot begin to count ballots before Nov. 2, absentee ballots that are received before Tuesday can be processed, placed into the correct precinct and have their signatures verified to speed up the tallying process.
Statewide, nearly 44 percent of registered voters asked for a vote-by-mail ballot and nearly 1.4 million of them had returned them with a week left in the election cycle.
During the last gubernatorial general election, in Nov. 2006, San Benito County had 24,586 voters – or just 111 fewer voters than are registered this year – and turnout was nearly 60 percent, according to Gonzalez.
“It probably won’t be that high this year,” he said, noting that he is anticipating a turnout of around 55 percent.
San Benito County has 34,657 eligible voters, according to the state Secretary of State’s Office, meaning approximately 71 percent of them are registered. More than 48 percent of voters are registered Democrats, 30.25 percent are Republicans and nearly 17 percent registered as “decline to state.” The remaining voters are registered in the American Independent, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, or other parties.
Pinnacle wire services contributed to this report.
