“Under California law, each political party decides whether to allow DTS voters to participate in their presidential primaries,” said Secretary Bowen, the state’s top elections officer. Counties are required to notify voters of their voting rights by mail, but not necessarily at their polling places. According to a Capitol Public Radio story, Bowen says she’ll be exploring possible legislation to make the law more specific. She says some county elections workers were concerned that offering “decline to state” voters a Democratic or American Independent ballot might appear partisan – or look like electioneering. Voters who have any questions about their rights should call the Secretary of State’s toll-free Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE.” Capitol Public Radio contributed to this story
Thursday, 07 February 2008 07:55
Decline-to-State Voter Complaints
Decline-to-state voters were allowed to cast
votes in California’s
Democratic and American Independent Party primaries on Tuesday, but there were complaints that they weren’t
offered a primary ballot. The Secretary of State’s Voter Hotline has
received several dozen calls from non-partisan voters around the state
reporting some county poll workers were not fully aware of decline-to-state
voter rights. Secretary of State Debra Bowen says the election code could be
improved to protect the rights of voters who chose not to affiliate with a
particular political party.
