Elections Only by Mail? In Yolo County, Not Yet
Yolo Cnty. Clerk-Recorder Freddie Oakley
Yolo County’s top elections official has been calling for exclusive vote-by-mail elections. But now, she says, she’s put that plan on hold.
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(Woodland, CA)
Monday, December 10, 2007
Yolo County voters had a small election last month – just a few school board seats and bond measures. Clerk-Recorder Freddie Oakley said turnout was so low that …
Oakley: “Yolo County, in our last election, every vote cast at a polling place cost over $34.”
Compared with two and a half bucks per mail ballot. So Oakley floated the idea of voting exclusively by mail. That would require a new state law.
Oakley: “The pushback was very, very hard and very, very quick on doing major elections that way.”
Like presidential elections. But what about small, local, non-partisan elections like last month’s?
Oakley: “Some of the aspects of any postal ballot election bill are gonna be show-stoppers unless they’re solved up front.”
So Oakley says she’ll work with state lawmakers over the next year to figure out those issues.