MAIL-ONLY ELECTIONS ON THE WAY BURBANK COUNCIL TO VOTE ON FINAL OK NEXT WEEK.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - Voters might be able to mail in their ballots instead of going to the polls during municipal elections in a change officials expect will be more convenient and get more people to vote.

If given final approval by the City Council next week, the city would be in the same category as Oregon and Alpine County, Calif., which both conduct their elections exclusively by mail. Use of the mail ballot system would begin with a municipal primary next February.

``I believe that it's the most convenient way for people to cast a ballot,'' City Clerk Margarita Campos said.

Turnout using traditional ballots has generally been below 20 percent, going back to 1997, but a special election conducted by mail in October 2001 on the Restore Our Airport Rights initiative had a turnout of nearly 35 percent.

``The No. 1 advantage, of course, is increased voter participation, which is probably our most important goal as city officials,'' Campos said. The Burbank City Council voted 4-0 late Tuesday, with City Councilwoman Marsha Ramos absent, to give tentative approval to the mail-only system.

The change would not affect elections in Burbank conducted by Los Angeles County, such as the November presidential election. The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office uses polling places and also allows any voter to cast an absentee ballot by mail.

Burbank resident Garen Yegparian, 42, told the council that voters could get confused because county-conducted elections involve the use of polling places but municipal elections would not.

``And the people who are least likely to vote are the ones who are going to be the most likely to be excluded from voting'' because of the confusion, he said.

In February 2003, Burbank voters approved Measure M, which asked voters whether they would support the mail ballot system.

Josh Butler, community educator at the Long Beach-based Disabled Resources Center Inc., said the change would make it easier for the disabled to vote.

``I think as long as we can find the right balance between security for our voters and accessibility, we would support those types of proposals.''

To guard against fraud, voters would be required to sign the envelope they mail their ballot in, and the signature would be checked against the voter's registration record. Voters also would be able to drop their ballots off at the City Clerk's Office or at designated spots in the city.

It could cost $7,400 less to conduct a mail-only election than an election with polling places.

The new system would also eliminate the need to recruit poll workers and find polling places, Campos said. The $25 payment given to business owners and residents who allow their properties to be used as a polling place is often not enough for many to put up with the inconvenience.

Oregon switched to a mail-only ballot system in 1998. The system works well, but because voters have about a two-week window to mail in their ballots, organizations changed the way they get out the vote, said Anne Martens, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Secretary of State's Office.

``There's no one day that you can focus on; you have a whole two weeks (to) get out the vote,'' she said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com