Siskiyou County Clerk Colleen Setzer held a town hall meeting in Dunsmuir city council chambers Tuesday of last week to instruct citizens how to vote-by-mail in general and how to vote a recall ballot in particular.
It was the first in a series of town hall meetings Setzer has scheduled throughout the county.
“I thought it was important to start in Dunsmuir because of the recall ballot process,” she said.
Recall votes will be on the ballot for two Dunsmuir City Council members, Peter Arth and Mario Rubino.
For illustration, she handed out sample recall ballots. The first section on the ballot displayed the name of an incumbent, followed by a question asking if that person should be recalled. The choices given were YES and NO, alongside ovals that were to be filled in solidly. Below this section was a question asking voters to choose the candidate they’d want to fill the seat if the recall is successful. A name or names of candidates running specifically for that seat will be listed with ovals for making a choice.
The two-section structure will be repeated for each recall incumbent individually.
Setzer said voters can vote for a replacement candidate regardless of how they vote on the recall question or if they vote on the recall question. In that case, the ballot would show no ovals filled in to decide on recall, or the NO oval filled in, and an oval filled in next to the name of the chosen replacement candidate.
With a half grin, Setzer announced, “I want you to know that the county clerk does not accept bribes.” She then informed her audience that the order candidates' names appear on a ballot is determined by random draw.
Setzer also spent a lot of time on the vote-by-mail procedure.
“The number one reason vote-by-mail ballots are rejected is an unsigned envelope,” she stressed. She said that 3% of Siskiyou County vote-by-mail ballots were not counted because of this. Also, the envelopes must be in the clerk's office or in a ballot box at a poll by 8 p.m. election night, not in the mail.
She said “it really upsets me” when she checks the Post Office box after the election and find any ballots. “They cannot be counted.”
Setzer confronted the myth that vote-by-mail ballots are not counted at all. “That is absolutely false,” she declared. “Once a vote-by-mail ballot reaches my office, we check the signature against our records.” She said that specially-trained extra staff are brought in for the count, a process that is open to the public. She asked that voters be patient because it takes a lot of time to count vote-by-mail ballots, which can number up to 1,000.
Setzer urged the public to contact her directly. “I really like to encourage people who have questions about the voting process to call our office,” she said. That number is 842-8084.
The county clerk’s office provided a schedule of upcoming town hall meetings:
Sept. 2 – Happy Camp Grange, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sept. 7 – Yreka Armory, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Sept. 9 – Mt. Shasta Recreation Center, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Sept. 16 – Lake Shastina Community Services District, 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 – Weed City Hall, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Sept. 17 – Dorris City Hall, 9 to 10:30 a.m.
Sept. 17 – Tulelake City Hall, 1 to 3 p.m.
