The second mail-ballot election conducted by Castle Rock began,
unofficially, Tuesday, when voters should have begun receiving
ballots.
(If you didn’t, don’t panic. Wait until Monday. Then, if you
have not received a ballot, call the town at (303)
660-1367.)
Castle Rock conducted its first mail-ballot election last year,
and with tremendous success. In the candidate-only election of
2000, about 4.5 percent of eligible voters participated. That
jumped to 26 percent last year.
The success was attributed by town officials to the use of the
mailbox instead of the ballot box.
This year’s election might be a better referendum on the
popularity of mail ballots, though, because this is a particularly
yawnful election.
Unlike a number of past ballots, this year’s ballot features
only one contested race and a ballot question that, while
important, hasn’t drawn the passion of say a de-Brucing
measure.
The contest pits District 1 Councilman Jay Richards against
challenger Melissa Vanderbilt. Not to take anything away from
Richards or Vanderbilt, but that is a race of interest more for
that district than the whole town.
Bill Shaneyfelt, Millie Bennett and Ray Waterman are assured
re-election success because they lack competitors.
In last year’s election, every race was contested – one district
race even featured three candidates.
The ballot referendum asks voters if the terms of town council
members should be changed from two to four years. We’re certain
some people probably feel quite passionate either in favor of or
against this proposal, but so far they haven’t made a whole lot of
noise – well, any noise.
By no means are we saying that a “quiet” ballot – one that lacks
divisive issues or a number of hotly contested races – justifies a
decision not to participate. However, we do know that what’s on the
ballot often determines how many people decide to
participate.
The theory behind mailing ballots to voters is that perhaps many
will decide to participate in the rather ho-hum elections they
passed on in the past because the polling place comes to voters
instead of voters going to the polling places.
We hope this is true, but we will wait to see what happens.