Sacramento, CA - Assemblymember Jared Huffman’s Voter Choice Legislation has passed the Assembly Elections Committee. The bill, AB 1654 would create a 5-year pilot program to allow counties to conduct local, state and federal elections pursuant to a hybrid system that would automatically enroll all voters in a mail-in ballot program, but also give voters new choices on how, when and where to cast their vote.  It would only apply to counties in which at least 55 percent of the ballots cast in the November 7, 2006 statewide general election were cast by mail. These counties include: Calaveras, Marin, Mariposa, Nevada, Plumas, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, and Sonoma.

“Voter participation is at an all-time low.  Providing more choices and convenience in terms of how, when and where to vote is a logical way to increase voter turnout,” said Huffman.  “As more voters utilize options such as mail-in voting, counties will also save significant amounts of money.”

AB 1654 would allow every voter the opportunity to vote by mail without having to pre-register as an absentee/vote by mail voter. It would also require participating counties to maintain conveniently located Vote Centers to allow voters to cast ballots in multiple locations in the days leading up to the election and on Election Day, and would provide mobile voting centers to ensure vote accessibility for disabled voters.

Mail ballot voting has increased steadily in California for over 40 years.  Nearly half of the state’s votes are now cast by mail.  In the 2006 primary, 46.9% of the ballots were cast by mail and in the 2006 general election, nearly 42% of the ballots were cast by mail. Of the 58 counties, 16 received more ballots by mail than at polling places.

Estimates from the November 6, 2007 election showed that Yolo County taxpayers paid $39 for each polling place vote compared to $2.50 per vote for mail-in ballots.