September 9, 2003

Political pros set sights on absentee voters

NORA K. WALLACE
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Almost 55,000 people across Santa Barbara County will be getting mail from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cruz Bustamante, along with labor unions and a host of other special interest groups in the coming weeks.

Those residents are in the cross hairs of political operatives for one reason: They're planning to vote absentee in the Oct. 7 recall election.

People who request absentee ballots have a high likelihood of voting -- and that's important to those seeking office or hoping to get a measure passed.

State Sen. Tom McClintock, a Republican who represents most of Santa Barbara County, will send out about 300,000 campaign pieces, and fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to flood the state with about 2 million mailers outlining his platform.

The state Democratic Party is spotlighting its "No on Recall" message to hundreds of thousands of people who will vote from home, rather than at the polls.

"Absentee voters tend to be more informed, more opinionated and more convinced of their arguments or position," said Bob Mulholland, Democratic Party spokesman. "What we need to do as a political party is make sure they get their ballots in."

The pro-recall group Rescue California will hone in on independent voters and Republicans, urging an end to Gov. Gray Davis' administration.

In last November's governor's race, more than 2 million people cast absentee votes, and that's projected to be even higher this year. In Santa Barbara County, a whopping 81.3 percent of the 64,923 absentee and mail-in ballots in that race were returned, prompting an "Isn't that cool?" response from County Clerk-Recorder Joe Holland on Monday.

His office began mailing out absentee ballots on Monday to the 54,913 people who have signed up so far, and 186,933 sample ballots are already in the mail.

"What's really interesting is not only are you getting a greater turnout and voter participation, but what you've done is essentially lengthened Election Day from one day to 29 days," Mr. Holland said of the increase in absentee voting.

"So, potentially 45 percent of votes could be cast tomorrow.

"People can start voting today or tomorrow, after they've made their decision and reviewed all the facts."

Mr. Holland hopes all the mail and media attention about absentees spur people to get interested in voting.

He's encouraging those with absentee ballots to turn them in as soon as possible.

Though the votes won't be unsealed before the end of Election Day, elections workers will be able to verify signatures to ready the ballots for counting once the polls close.

Voters have until Sept. 30 to request absentee ballots. Forms can be found in any county elections office, or on the Internet at www.sbcvote.org or www.ss.ca.gov.

"We're all busy, we all lead busy lives," Mr. Holland noted.

"This makes it so much easier to vote. There's no longer any excuse not to vote."

County residents 18 and older have until Sept. 22 to register for the Oct. 7 special election. Residents must register if they've moved, changed their names or want to change party affiliation.

"I hope after people see this very interesting ballot with 135 candidates that they talk to a neighbor who might not be registered," Mr. Holland said.

"They can say, 'Look at this. Isn't democracy interesting? You have an opportunity to take part in history.'"

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