Rockville residents could vote by mail during Mayor and Council elections under a process recommended by the city’s Board of Supervisors of Elections.
“Our rationale is to get the ballot to the voter instead of the voter to the ballot,” board chair Lois Neuman said in a Nov. 6 presentation to the Mayor and Council.
The Mayor and Council are scheduled to hold a follow-up discussion of the issue on Monday, Jan. 22 and hold a public hearing on Monday, Feb. 5. Anyone wishing to testify at the hearing should call 240-314-8280 before 4 p.m. Feb. 5 to have their names placed on the speakers’ list.
When voting by mail, registered voters receive a ballot by mail, mark the ballot, place it into a mailing envelope, sign an affidavit on the exterior of the envelope, which has a trackable bar code, and return the package by mail, at a drop box or in person. The board recommended establishing an Election Day center for voters who choose to vote in person, drop off ballots and interact with election officials.
The new voting process would increase voter turnout by removing obstacles to voting, adding convenience and increasing the options for voters to become involved, Neuman said. Encouraging more people to vote in city elections is a priority for the Mayor and Council this term.
Voting by mail provides more and better ways for voters to vote, Neuman said. Rockville’s voter turnout has declined regardless of the number of candidates or ballot questions, from 16.94 percent of registered voters in 2011 to 16.51 percent in 2013 and 15.87 percent in 2015, when the city held its first election to four-year terms. Rockville elects the entire five-member Mayor and Council in nonpartisan elections during years when there are no county, state or federal elections. The next election is in 2019.
At least 22 states allow elections to be conducted by mail, Neuman said. Oregon, Washington and Colorado hold all elections entirely by mail. California will be doing the same beginning in 2018. Maryland allows voting by mail in special elections and for absentee ballots.
If voting by mail is adopted, the board recommends that the city launch an outreach campaign with a minimum of four pieces of communication to voters. Such direct-mail outreach would generate ballots returned from addresses where voters no longer live, allowing the city to identify voter information that needs to be revised on voter rolls, Neuman said.
While more would be spent on postage, voting by mail would reduce election costs overall, with savings on equipment, personnel and training, she said.
Find video of the Nov. 6 presentation and Mayor and Council discussion at www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter.
This article was updated to reflect the rescheduled discussion and hearing dates. The originally scheduled discussion was postponed due to inclement weather.