A recommendation to move Culver City exclusively to voting by mail was met with deep resistance at the April 13 city council meeting.
Assistant City Manager Martin Cole, who also functions as Culver City’s city clerk and chief elections officer, presented city leaders with a proposal to switch to voting through the mail with a $20,000 education outreach campaign to the public.
Local attorney Gerald Sallus, who said he was representing the League of Women Voters, was one of the only members of the public to support the concept of voting through the mail. “We strongly recommend that you change to voting by mail,” he said.
More than 53 percent of statewide voters use absentee ballots as of 2012 and in Culver City’s most recent municipal election, 63 percent of the votes cast were absentee or mailed in ballots, according to Cole’s office. A staff report highlighted the states of Oregon and Washington as having higher voter turnout after voters approved switching to all mail voting.
“It appears that this proposal will not save the city money or increase voter turnout. Philosophically, I feel going into a polling place and casting your ballot is the heart of democracy,” David Von Cannon, a city Planning Commissioner, told the council.
Rebecca Rona-Tuttle also questioned the validity of the formula that voting by mail translates into more voters. She said many of today’s voters witnessed their parents voting at voting precincts and if those experiences end a new generation of citizens might not be as motivated to cast their ballots in an election.
Other speakers addressed the possibility of fraud as well as the potential for lost ballots.
Councilman Jim Clarke appeared to be the only member of the city’s governing body who was open to the possibility of converting the city’s elections to an all-mail system. “We’ve seen [voting by mail] increase steadily here in Culver City,” he said.
Clarke’s colleagues seemed less inclined to change the status quo. Councilman Jeffery Cooper talked about his early voting experiences of visiting his polling place to cast his ballot on election day and how it is a “source of pride” to get his sticker that demonstrates that he voted.
Cole said he would include his request for funding a voter education campaign when his office makes its budget presentation to the council next month.
Cole said he was pleased to have the discussion on voting, noting “We had more speakers on the voting agenda item than those who came to our (recent budget) hearings.”