Perhaps I'm one of those ever-hopeful people, but if early or absentee or mail-in balloting is what it takes to increase voter participation, I'm all for it. We just have to ensure the proper safeguards are there. Of course, that raises the prospect for the next logical form of voting, which is using the Internet to cast one's ballot. Once we offer all of these different "ease of voting" options, citizens will no longer have any excuse whatsoever for not voting. None of these advances will do anything about the quality or caliber of the candidates, but at least the effort at voting itself can no longer be an issue...

Posted by Robert | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 6:54 am

I've been voting absentee for years now due to my work schedule. Once I've made my mind up about certain issues, I don't care how many more times I'm pummeled with the same information, I (usually)won't change my mind.

Posted by Happy Bunny | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 7:51 am

What I want to know is: There are at least 3 million residents in San Diego today so does 370,771 represent the total number of registered voters or the total that voted Tuesday? No matter how you look at it 370,771 is pathetic! Happy Bunny - I don't vote absentee because I still enjoy walking up the hill to my precinct and physically voting but my children vote absentee. And once I've made up my mind on who I will support I don't change, in fact, the barrage of mailers only irrates me and is a waste of resources.

Posted by nelson | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 10:24 am

I too have been voting by mail for a number of years......just easier, but I do miss getting the "I Voted" sticker, which I would always wear with pride...one year they ran out and I was PO'd big time!

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 10:42 am

Perhaps the high number of absentee voters reflect concerns about vote tampering. In any case, with 10 percent of the populace bothering to pull the lever on the pols, can we call any election anything more than an empty pantomime of democracy? What ''mandate'' do these pols think they have?

Posted by JR | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 11:19 am

Vote by mail increases turnout only in special local elections. In normal elections, absentee voters actually vote at a lower rate: link

Posted by Vlad | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 12:17 pm

JR, your concern about low turnout is touching. Do you know who those people are who do not vote? The uninformed. The ones who know nothing about the issues, the structure of government, the function of various offices or the candidates. Do you really want those people to determine who our elected officials will be? To those people I say, "stay at home, enjoy that beer, watch "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?" If you were to vote for someone I wanted in office, it would just be blind coincidence, anyway. Sure, voter participation is a key component of democracy. A more important one, though, is having competent leaders. The stay-at-homes wouldn't know a competent leader from a Basset Hound. Thank public education for churning out the stupid.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
June 7, 2008 9:06 am

I vote absentee because I don't trust electronic voting machines. I decided to become a permanent absentee voter after I read how easy it is to tamper with electronic machines. I realize that court decisions caused San Diego to stop using them, but I figure they will be back.

Posted by CarrieS | reply to this comment
June 7, 2008 6:17 pm

I submitted my absentee ballot 1 day after it arrived in the mail. I already made up my mind on the races that mattered to me, and, it makes it easier to dismiss/trash the daily candidate mailers. Life is easier when voting absentee. Now, I wish that when polls close, info on absentee ballots were immediately made available. I have the impression they are not run through the machine counters 'til after polls close. That should change. When polls close, information should be immediately forthcomming. Based on this article, it appears absentee ballots account for 2/3rds of all ballots. That is a lot.

Posted by Brandon | reply to this comment
June 8, 2008 11:00 am

That more individuals are voting absentee is enlightening. Maybe more folks are taking the time to study the issues and candidates...or it's just more convenient. Either way it's great! Perhaps the candidates will learn from this and quit sending political mailers trashing each other at the end. Save on paper (trees,) money, the mailman's poor back and not turn the electorate off.

Posted by jenart | reply to this comment
June 11, 2008 6:51 am

Perhaps because it was the only ‘paper trail’ we had for a while and everyone has already heard about the people we have in charge of the Register of Voters. I believe One had two of their people charged in Ohio for election fraud [or something like that] and Two use to be a sale person for those ‘electronic’ voting machines, or am I wrong? If so, I am sorry. It is just all so hard to try to keep up with. Are they also party members in good standing as well, and I wonder which party?

Posted by Elections | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 7:36 am

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