Dismal' turnout in San Mateo County prompts new calls for vote-by-mail

In the wake of a special election turnout they described as "dismal," San Mateo County elections officials are renewing their call for state legislation to allow special elections to be conducted entirely by mail.

About 26 percent of the county's registered voters participated in the April 8 congressional special election won by Jackie Speier. Of those, nearly three-quarters voted by mail.

And yet the county spent close to $1 million on the election, twice the estimated cost of an all-mail election. Hundreds of thousands of dollars was spent on poll workers, field technicians and ballot deliveries to accommodate the 17,595 voters who showed up to the polls in person. The cost worked out to $26.70 per precinct voter.

"This is a disgrace," Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum said in a statement Friday.

He added, "We will spend a million dollars to conduct an election that could have been held for half this money, all because there is no enabling legislation to allow counties to conduct special elections by mail."

State Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, had tried to pass a law authorizing an all-mail ballot specifically for this special election. But with a short time frame requiring a two-thirds majority, he said he couldn't get the necessary support from Republican leaders.

At the time, Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams of Claremont told the Daily News he was concerned an all-mail ballot could discourage

Mullin, who will be termed out at the end of this year, said he doesn't anticipate making another push for a law enabling counties to use all-mail ballots in elections where low turnout is anticipated.

"We'll leave this issue for others to take up," Mullin said. "We do believe it makes a lot of sense. My sense is that as we continue to see more and more people voting by mail, and see more and more examples of (all-mail elections) taking place, it looks like it's almost inevitable.

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