February 1, 2002

The March Primary Election is just weeks away, and voters who want to receive a ballot in the mail instead of going to the polls on election day may request a Vote-by-Mail ballot.

Voters may apply by mail, FAX or in person between now and February 26 for a ballot to be mailed to them. Under a new law, voters may become a Permanent Absentee Voter by checking the appropriate box on the Vote-By-Mail application or by completing an application to become a Permanent Absentee Voter.

An application is provided on the back cover of the Sample Ballot booklets to be mailed out to voters by mid-February, on the Election Department’s website at www.votescount.com, and at the City Clerk’s Office in Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. Voters may also write a note including the voter’s residence address in Santa Cruz County, mailing address and signature requesting the vote-by-mail ballot for the March 5, 2002 Primary Election.

Voters may also apply for and obtain a ballot in person beginning Monday, February 4, at the Santa Cruz County Elections Department located at 701 Ocean St., Room 210, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 or FAX 831-454-2445. As an added service to south county voters, the Watsonville City Clerk's Office, located at 215 Union Street, 2^nd Floor, in Watsonville, will issue ballots to voters or accept voted ballots from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, from February 4 through March 1. The voting operation will move to the City Council Chambers, located at 250 Main Street, on March 2 through 5.

Many voters use the vote-by-mail applications supplied by various political campaigns. Santa Cruz County election officials, however, stress that voters have the legal right to mail or deliver the applications directly to the local elections official rather than the political campaign. Returning vote-by-mail applications to anyone other than the elections official may cause a delay that could interfere with the voter’s right to vote, officials warned.

The number of voters who vote-by-mail has increased over the years with the largest number of vote-by-mail ballots, 39,155 issued in the last Presidential General Election in November 2000. In a major election, approximately 20 to 25 percent of the registered voters will request a vote-by-mail ballot. The record, however, is for a special election where 36 percent of the registered voters requested vote-by-mail ballots.

Vote-by-Mail ballots sent to voters may be returned by the voter by mail or dropped off at any polling place in Santa Cruz County on Election Day. Voters may also drop off ballots during regular business hours at the county Elections Department in Santa Cruz, or the City Clerks' offices in Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley or Watsonville during regular business hours.

A vote-by-mail voter, however, who, because of illness or other physical disability, is unable to return the ballot, may designate his or her spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother , sister or person residing in the same household to return the ballot to the county Elections Department, City Clerk's office, or to any polling place on election day. The authorization for a another person to return the vote-by-mail ballot is located on the back of the ballot return envelope.

It is extremely important for voters to sign their application for a vote-by-mail ballot and the vote-by-mail ballot return envelope, besides completing all of the other information requested, including the address where the voter lives in Santa Cruz County.

Unfortunately, if there is no signature on the vote-by-mail ballot return envelope or if the signature on the envelope does not match the voter’s signature on his or her voter’s registration card, election officials cannot count the ballot.

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For more information, please call the Santa Cruz County Elections Department at 831-454-2060, visit our office at 701 Ocean St., Room 210 in Santa Cruz, or check out our website at www.votescount.com.