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Counties set for surge in absentee ballots In Santa Clara County alone, more than 2,000 ballots arrived Monday as dozens more voters streamed into the registrar's office to vote in person. Of the 131,000 absentee ballots mailed out, about 48,000 have been returned so far -- almost double the 25,000 that were in hand last week. ``The numbers are climbing,'' said Elaine Larson, assistant registrar for Santa Clara County. ``It's only going to get busier.'' With a week to go, more than 1.7 million people already have voted by mail statewide, well ahead of the number who voted in the March gubernatorial primary, but fewer than those who voted in November. Still out there, however, are an estimated 1.1 million ballots that have not yet been returned. And with today the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot, those numbers are likely to climb. ``We can certainly say the number of people requesting absentees is a strong indication of high voter interest,'' said Assistant Secretary of State Terri Carbaugh. Courting mail voters In a race that many believe could hinge on a few thousands votes, campaigns have aggressively courted absentee voters. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign was among the first to blanket the state with glossy mailers featuring the movie star as well as an application to vote by mail. The California Labor Federation also launched an aggressive campaign with a ``No on Recall, Yes on Bustamante'' message, complete with mailers, phone banks and precinct walks. In an early effort, the labor federation sent out more than 100,000 absentee ballot applications to members who requested them, said Dan Chavez, the federation's political director. Chavez said that with the tight timetable and reduced number of precincts, it is especially important to offer minority communities the chance to vote by mail. And both Democrats and Republican strategists say a candidate would be foolish not to target this segment, since changes in the law have given more people the option of voting by mail. People can now vote permanently by mail, rather than having to reapply during each election. In last November's gubernatorial election, more than one in four voters cast their ballots by mail. ``A quarter of the vote, that's clearly huge,'' said Steve Smith, a strategist with the No on Recall campaign. ``This is a very significant part of the electorate that you can't ignore.'' And unlike those who vote at the polls on election day, absentee voters are more likely to cast their ballots -- making them an especially promising target. 9th Circuit effect But strategists say that a ruling earlier by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals may have hindered some vote-by-mail efforts, since many people who planned to vote instead may have thrown away their ballots because they believed the election would be delayed until the March presidential primary. ``It was an unfortunate thing about 9th Circuit,'' said Sal Russo, a Republican strategist. ``It probably caused more people not to vote than would have been affected by mistakes made with the machines. With the confusion, counties saw a huge drop in the number of votes being cast -- and some folks lost their ballots.'' But registrars across the state said the lull appears to be temporary, because the number of ballots mailed back is growing.
Larson said registrars across the state are encouraging voters to mail their ballots back no later than Friday. Those who procrastinate should drop them by the registrars office or by 8 p.m. Oct. 7 at their polling place.
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