Friday, October 24, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen... drive-through voting.

From Yahoo:
SANTA ANA, Calif. – There were no burgers, car washes or lattes at this Orange County drive-through — just democracy.

Eager voters pulled their vehicles into the county registrar's parking lot on Monday to either register or cast ballots at an electronic drive-through poll station.

The one-day-only offer came on the last day of voter registration for Californians. Only Orange County was offering the drive-through electronic voting service.

Some registrar offices across the state held late-night hours and set up drop boxes to receive voter registration forms before the midnight deadline.

Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley noted that voter registration is up 15 percent in Orange County from four years ago, and the electronic early voting was a chance to lessen the crowds next month.

"I know it is going to be busy as heck," he said of Election Day. "We're preparing for heavy turnout."

Although Kelley said he believes the drive-through is the first one to use electronic voting, the concept of casting ballots from a driver's seat is not new to California or the nation.

Sonoma County, for example, has long had a drive-up window where voters can drop paper ballots. A town in Vermont offered the same opportunity in 2006.

In Riverside County, voters can cast ballots this month from a roving "votemobile" that is traveling across the area.

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