Election
marks technological system for voting
By Jill Thomsen
Daily Forty Niner
The
2002 California general election officially
kicked off Monday as registrar offices around
the state began mailing absentee ballots
to voters.
An absentee ballot allows citizens unable
to vote in person on election day a chance
to participate in the democratic system.
Absentee ballots are especially important
to students, who are outside of their registered
voting district on election day.
Also, a non-traditional method of voting
is going to be offered in Los Angeles County,
where voters can use chad-free touch-screens
to cast their ballot. Offered Oct. 22 through
Nov. 1, early touch-screen voting has become
very popular.
“It’s easy and people seem to like it,”
said Julie Navarro of the county registrar’s
office.
Touch-screen voting was created with the
disabled and elderly in mind, but it is
now used by anyone who wants the convenience
of voting prior to election day. Designed
in the same manner as an ATM machine, a
touch-screen voting ballot allows voters
to touch a box to select the candidate or
measure of their choice or type in the name
of a write-in candidate. You are then
asked to review your ballot and make any
changes before pressing “Cast Ballot.”
Another unique feature of touchscreen voting
is that the ballot is available in six foreign
languages, including Korean and Tagalog.
Blind voters can also utilize headsets which
read the text of the ballot aloud.
Political science freshman Paul Rives re-registered
to vote in LA County after moving here from
Orange County. When asked about the touch-screen
voting option he said it was kind of cool.
Rives will also be volunteering at a polling
place on Nov. 5 as part of a political science
course.
Perhaps the most useful aspect of the early
touchscreen voting system is that registered
voters may vote at any touchscreen voting
location within Los Angeles County.
For example, a Cal State Long Beach student
who lives in Carson may vote in either Long
Beach, Carson, or any other voting location.
This is quite different than on Nov. 5,
when each voter has one designated polling
place.
The Long Beach early touchscreen voting
location is at the Long Beach School for
Adults at 3701 E. Willow. Hours are 8:30
a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily.
Absentee voting has become increasingly
popular in recent elections because it allows
voters a chance to vote at their own convenience.
A ballot is received in the mail has the
same contents and measures as those at the
polling place. Before being mailed back
to the state, the ballot must be placed
in a sealed and signed envelope provided
in order to prevent voter fraud.
Fresno resident and broadcast journalism
freshman Lorenzo Occhipinti requested an
absentee ballot because political issues
are a big concern for him.
Absentee ballots must be requested no later
than Oct. 29, and applications can be found
at California Secretary of State’s Web site
at www.ss.ca.gov/elections.
Absentee ballots must be received no later
than 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, when election day
polls close.
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