New storm buffets secretary of state
By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, August 13, 2004
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The registrars, some of whom question whether Shelley is more interested in promoting himself than in helping them register and motivate voters, were furious after learning last week that he planned to send nearly 4 million permanent absentee ballot applications.
"It's mind-boggling," Conny McCormack, the registrar in Los Angeles County, said this week. "It's duplicative and it's got his name all over it. We don't need voters being confused. It's just ludicrous, and he didn't consult any of us before doing it."
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Shelley notified county clerks and elections registrars last Friday by fax that his office soon would be mailing 3.75 million applications that would allow voters to assume "permanent absentee" status. Once a form is filled out and processed, voters would receive absentee ballots in all future elections -local, state and federal.
To process all the forms, which were to be sent to so-called "occasional" voters who have cast ballots once in the past four elections, the fax said additional staff would have been added.
The extra hiring went to the heart of another simmering dispute between local registrars and Shelley over how he's using more than $200 million in federal funds aimed at educating voters and increasing turnout.
Registrars have said they think the money should be used to buy new electronic voting machines and to hire more local poll and other elections workers. Shelley, for the most part, has hired consultants and other staff that work for his office.
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http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/10357742p-11277652c.html