All-mail ballot bill for San Diego stalls
San Diego County voters will still have the option of casting their ballots in person for president, lawmakers, supervisors and mayors in 2012.
State Sen. Christine Kehoe has temporarily shelved her legislation that would have allowed San Diego County to launch a five-year pilot program for all-mail balloting starting next year.
Kehoe, D-San Diego, said she pulled the bill from consideration in the wake of opposition from the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
In a statement, Kehoe said "we were unable to secure sufficient support among committee members at this time."
Kehoe said she has asked San Diego County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler to work with the committee so that the measure can "move forward at a later date."
The committee was originally set to hear the bill Tuesday.
San Diego County asked Kehoe to carry Senate Bill 304.
“Despite cost savings to taxpayers and the potential increase in voter participation, an idea like this was going to cause some nausea mainly because conducting elections exclusively by mail represents a paradigm shift,” said Geoff Patnoe, who manage’s the county’s legislative program.
The county signaled it will try again.
“With over 50 percent of those who vote in San Diego County already voting by mail, the notion of conducting elections only by mail will not go away ...,” Patnoe said.
Casting ballots by mail would save the county $3.5 million during each general election, officials estimated.
San Diego County voters appear to favor the post office over the polling booth. According to county figures, 55 percent of local voters mailed in their ballots in the November 2010 general election. The June 2010 primary drew even a larger number of mail-in responses, 65 percent.