Hello: I thought y’all would be interested in this response to my early voting thread at the end of this blog post. Not sure where he gets his 3k number. I believe they are still struggling on with the older Diebold (Premier/ES&S) machines they got over a decade ago. These are required for ADA and non-English speaking voters. I would give him only a B on his effort but I am grateful for his response.
Thanks, Ed Kennedy
Vu, Michael To yahoo.com CC Corry, Keith Oct 31 at 7:43 PMDear Mr. Kennedy:
I am in receipt of your email regarding the lack of early voting locations and the issue of postage which was forwarded to me by Supervisor D. Roberts. On behalf of Supervisor Roberts, I would like to respond.
Unfortunately, the ability for the County to extend early voting to other locations throughout the county was hampered in late-2007 due to the Secretary of State (SOS) decertifying our touchscreen voting units and recertifying them under strict and onerous conditions. Had we been able to use these touchscreen voting units more widely, we would be able to support the 3,115 different iterations of the official ballot for the upcoming November 8 Presidential General Election at other sites. Regrettably, the management of 3,115 different types of paper optical scan ballots is not supportable beyond our main offices. It is our hope that a new voting system(s) will be certified by the SOS and will afford us a more feasible way of offering satellite early voting sites in the future.
In lieu of early voting locations, the majority of voters (63%) have opted to receiving a mail ballot to vote instead of going to a physical location. In fact, over 1 million mail ballots have been issued in this election. To provide convenience and additional services in this area, we established a mail ballot drop off program where, in this election, we have 25 different sites throughout the County that a mail voter can drop off their ballot. Registrar of Voters staff are present at each of these locations and the hours coincide with the business hours of the location. The program started today (October 31) and will continue each day until Election Day. Attached is the list of the locations.
Besides the mail ballot drop-off locations, we will offer weekend voting this Saturday, November 5 and Sunday, November 6 at our office. Our office will be open from 8 am to 5 pm these two days for voters who won’t be able to make it to the polls or who wish not to receive a mail ballot.
Regarding the issue of paying for postage for all mail ballots, this is a policy decision and it is a matter of whether taxpayers should fund paying for postage to those who opt out of going to their assigned polling location and instead requests a mail ballot.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance or can answer any additional questions you may have.
Kind Regards,
Michael Vu
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MICHAEL VU | REGISTRAR OF VOTERS | 858-505-7201 | SDVOTE.COM
MBDO Flyer (Online Handout).pdf Reply Reply to All Forward MoreEdmund Kennedy To Vu, Michael CC yahoo.comCorry, Keith BCC Edmund Kennedy Oct 31 at 8:07 PM Thank you, my comments were based on the condition and of your web site when I wrote my letter. It certainly has improved. I am still puzzled why other counties are able to offer multiple early polling places and you were not able to. Similarly other counties offer postage paid return envelopes. If they can, why can't San Diego County do likewise? Good luck on 11/8/16! Edmund R. Kennedy, BA, Bs, PE, Pmp 10777 Bendigo Cove San Diego, CA 92126 H 858-578-8842 C 619-261-8842 Sent from my iPad Edmund R. Kennedy To adam.kaye Oct 28 at 6:36 AM Please forward the following message to Supervisor Dave Roberts: Hello Mr. Roberts: Yesterday a co-worker of mine asked where he could voter early given the enormous 51-item ballot this year. I was astonished to see only one locations and no weekend or evening hours. I have checked the California Secretary of State’s office and many counties have 6-12 early voting locations. San Diego is the largest County in the State covering a landmass larger than some New England states! Also, I was displeased that the County once again required postage (2 stamps!) for absentee ballots. I would like to see that you provide and comply with more that the apparently, minimum, legal requirements to not only facilitate voting but you encourage it by having more locations and have postage paid by addressee for absentee ballots. Sincerlily, Edmund R. Kennedy, BA, BS, PE, PMP