ALL-MAIL BALLOTING POSSIBLE VOTERS MAY ELIMINATE POLLING PLACES.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

BURBANK - As a polling booth inspector in Burbank for more than 20 years, Libby Nardo has seen the democratic process in action in big and small ways: from mayors stopping in to vote for themselves and pose for a few snapshots, to teens walking into a polling place for the very first time.

So the notion of eliminating the whole polling booth concept in favor of an all-mail-in ballot election doesn't sit too well with 78-year-old Nardo and some other Burbank residents.

``Some residents really enjoy coming to the polls,'' Nardo said recently. ``I think they will miss it. They'll miss coming just to talk. It's not all about the voting, but about families coming together. Some of them are widows that live alone; some are widowers. They enjoy talking to us. It's a good pastime for some people.''

Come Feb. 25, residents of Burbank will be going to the polls, maybe for the last time if they pass Measure M, which would eliminate polling places altogether for an all-mail-in ballot election.

The voting-on-the-go issue was raised by city officials last October, who placed the measure on the ballot as an advisory vote. If residents pass it, the council will consider the results and then decide whether to make it an ordinance.

``We could be a trend-setter here,'' said City Clerk Margarita Campos. ``Burbank is an ideal city for an all-mail ballot. It's small; it's bipartisan. An all-mail election creates more work for our staff, because our staff has to check each one, but the high voter turnout is worth it.''

Based on evidence from a special election on Measure A two years ago, in which 30 percent of the 55,000 registered voters balloted during the mail-in drive, Burbank officials believe the city is ready to make the switch to the new system, even if, at first, it comes at a higher price. That special election cost $122,386 compared with $94,144 during the 2001 general election in which 11,165 residents - or about 20 percent of registered voters - voted. The per-vote cost was $628 for the mail-in ballot and $8.43 for traditional voting.

Campos said that while it's difficult to tell what drove the voters during the special election - passion for Measure A, which placed a cap and curfew on flights at Burbank Airport, or the convenience of mail - the ultimate goal is to attract voters.

The process for an all-mail ballot would be the same as the one now used for permanent absentee voters. The voter receives a sample ballot, an informational pamphlet and a ballot with a return envelope.

In 1998, Oregon voters passed an initiative for an all-mail ballot election. They used all-mail ballots for the first time in the 2000 presidential elections. In some Oregon counties, voting by mail has been done for almost 20 years, said John Lindback, director of the Elections Division for Oregon's Secretary of the State's Office.

In the 2000 general election, 80 percent of the 1.9 million registered voters mailed in a ballot, the highest turnout for any state, Lindback said.

``It's a much easier election to conduct,'' Lindback said. ``We don't have the low voter turnout that others are experiencing.''

That state also has had a lot of time to train personnel on how to detect fraud, Lindback said, and ballot drop-offs give voters more confidence if they are insecure about sending their signed documents through the mail.

While the notion of mail voting seems promising, it won't be happening too soon statewide in California, said Conny McCormack, Los Angeles County's registrar-recorder and clerk.

The county already is experimenting with touch-screen voting.

``I don't see an all-mail ballot happening statewide,'' McCormack said. ``But certainly for cities as small as Burbank, it's a viable solution.''

McCormack said there are many safeguards in place to avoid voter fraud. City clerks compare signatures on the ballots to those from registration cards.

But some Burbank residents still are skeptical.

Tom Kaptain, who authored the opposing view on the ballot, said he's heard that other counties have encountered fraud.

``People turn around and mail them right back in the first week without listening to the candidates and without listening to the issues,'' he said. ``And people do things like pay people for ballots. There are a lot fewer safeguards for fraud. There are those who are deceased who still receive ballots in their name and people still vote or them.''

Kaptain also said that family members could be coerced into voting for someone they don't like.

``One of the things you lose with an all-mail ballot is the sanctity of the secret ballot,'' Kaptain said.

Florence Nos, an elections inspector in Burbank, said if people want to become part of the democratic process, they should try to make the extra effort to visit a polling place.

``If you are really interested in who is running, you will make that effort,'' Nos said. ``It's like if your child is in a play; you get out of work to go see them.''