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SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Political groups see opportunity in absentee preference Monday, October 20, 2003 By PHUONG CAT LE Katie Kavulla lives just 1 1/2 miles from her polling place, but she still prefers to vote from the comforts of home. "It's just more convenient, and I'm more likely to do it by mail," said the 22-year-old who lives in Magnolia and has never voted at the polls. In just over a decade, absentee voters such as Kavulla have gone from the minority to the majority in Washington. Nearly 66 percent of all ballots cast in last November's statewide elections were absentee, compared with 18 percent in 1992. Political parties and interest groups have seized upon this trend and aggressively targeted absentee voters, not only because of their increasing numbers but also because they vote more consistently than those who cast ballots the old-fashioned way. King County elections officials expect twice as many absentee as poll ballots to be cast in the Nov. 4 election, even though more of the county's registered voters choose to vote at their precinct churches, fire stations or community centers. "If the ballot shows up in your mailbox, it's pretty hard to forget," said state elections director David Elliott, who added that absentee voting outpaces poll voting particularly in special or off-year elections. "Every statistic shows that more absentee voters vote," said Peter Abbarno, executive director of the Washington State Republican Party. "The more absentee voters you have, the more likely they'll vote, so your chances of winning are better." With only one state Senate and House race this year, in the 19th Legislative District in Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz and Grays Harbor counties, the state Republican Party sent mailers to like-minded voters urging them to sign up for absentee ballots and to vote next month. Teri Hein, 50, became a permanent absentee voter after getting a similar mailer, though hers likely came from a conservation group. Motivated by a busy lifestyle, the Wallingford resident switched to absentee and hasn't gone back. "It's raining, you're tired, the car is all fogged up, you have to find a parking spot," she said, describing the hassle she often faced getting to her polling station on Election Day. "Not only does it come in the mail and remind you, you can sit down with your voters pamphlet and think about what you want to do," said Hein, a teacher. Hein likely got her application from the Washington Education Alliance for Voter Education, which is working with 37 conservation groups to get out and sway the vote toward pro-environmental issues. In 1999, as the alliance studied voting patterns of its members, it noticed that even the most active ones didn't vote in every election, despite thinking that they had. Convenience rather than apathy or suspicion kept them from the polls, said program director Constance Perenyi. So the alliance sent out forms to become permanent absentee voters to about 130,000 people in the state, targeting its core membership women between 35 and 54. "So many things in life can be a hassle, voting shouldn't be," the mailer reads. "Next election: Vote at home." More than 25,000 who received the mailer registered to vote by mail. The alliance then tracked 12,500 who enrolled in 1999 and found that they voted more consistently even three years later, Perenyi said. Before getting mail-in ballots, only 24 percent of that test group voted in the 1998 primary election, whereas nearly 60 percent of them voted in the 2002 primary. Convenience is the motivation for Beth Bryant, who likes mail-in ballots because she doesn't have to stand in line or be rushed. She recalled the 1999 election when Initiative 695, the $30 car-tab measure, was on the ballot. The Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry broke down that night, and many passengers were upset that they weren't going to make it to the polling place by the 8 p.m. closing time, she said. "I remember thinking, 'I already voted, and I don't have to worry,' " said Bryant, 37, who teaches environmental law at the University of Washington. "What a good reason to do absentee voting." With more voters turning to the mail, experts say it's changed the nature of campaigning and created challenges in running and calling elections. Campaign hit pieces come out earlier than before, Abbarno said. And "the last-minute hit piece is not nearly as effective when two-thirds of the ballots are headed toward the courthouse," said Elliott, the state's election director. About 20 percent of absentee voters are expected to mail their ballots right after receiving it, said Dean Logan, director of King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services, whose office mailed out 470,000 absentee ballots last week. More votes trickle in in the meantime, and a final surge happens just before Election Day, he said. Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy said she's noticed more absentee voters hanging onto their ballots longer because "they're waiting for other shoe to ." Kit Dizotell of West Seattle waits until the last minute to mail her ballot. "As was the case in California, there's something big that could happen that would change your opinion," she said, referring to allegations in the final days of the California recall campaign that Arnold Schwarzenegger had groped women. It used to be that absentee voters were also more conservative because the older and disabled voters were the only ones who could be permanent absentee voters. Now "contemporary absentee voters look a lot like the regular voters," said David Olson, a UW political science professor. And some close races are called much later, as was the case last year when the monorail initiative wasn't decided until two weeks after the election. That's because ballots can be postmarked on Election Day. Officials are running two elections, absentee and poll. Budget and staffing issues led Ferry and Clallam counties to go all mail-in voting in recent years. Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown recalled one case where three election workers staffed a polling station that drew only two voters. Striking a balance between going to the polls and absentee voting, Pierce County sets up 11 "voter express booths" a few days before an election so absentee voters can hand their ballots to a poll worker. About 17,200 voters or one-fifth of those who voted absentee did so during last month's primary. Though the popularity of absentee voting isn't likely to reverse, Lance LeLoux, a political science professor at Washington State University, makes a pitch for poll voting. "There is a certain sense of community in showing up at the fire station ... getting your little 'I voted' sticker and running into your neighbors," he said. "The question is: Is the trade-off worth it for higher turnout for increasing the isolation of people from the political process?" Dizotell, of West Seattle, isn't sure. She's voted by mail for three years and likes giving issues careful review before mailing her ballot off. Still, she misses the polls. "I like to talk to the poll workers, see the crowds," she said. "I'm not sure I'll stick with (mail-in voting) forever." Hein said she misses "that sense of community patriotism, but not enough to change." VOTING ABSENTEE
For more information:
P-I reporter Phuong Cat Le can be reached at 206-448-8390 or phuongle@seattlepi.com |
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