Mayor
Robin R. Boyd
( 928) 289" 2422
Fax ( 928) 289- 3742'
. TDD ( 928) 289- 4784
Council Members
Peter Cake
Thomas R. Chacon, Sr.
Judy Howell
Marsha Juergens
Marshall Losey
Harold Soehner
Discover Winslow- A City in Motion
September 26, 2008
Honorable President
Arizona State Senate
1700 W. Washington, Senate Wing
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Honorable Speaker
House of Representatives
1700 W. Washington, House Wing
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Re: City of Winslow Primary & General Mail Ballot Elections
Dear Sirs:
RE. CE\\ IE, D
OffiCE Of " nil: YKt'S\ DEtH
The City of Winslow conducted its fifth mail ballot election for our March 11, 2008 Primary Election and
its sixth mail ballot election for our May 20, 2008 General/ Special Election. Pursuant to ARS § 16- 409. B,
our Mail Ballot Election Report is enclosed. The report addresses all required information.
On August 9,2005, the Mayor and Council adopted a resolution establishing election procedures for City
of Winslow elections which states that all future city elections will be conducted using mail ballots. As
you will see from the attached report, our voter turnout increased by 19.25% from our 2004 General
Election.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require further information.
Sincerely,
. J9' 1 i< J~* 1LL
Suzy Wetzel, CMC
City Clerk
Ismw
cc: Mayor & City Council
Jim Ferguson, City Manager
Dale Patton, City Attorney
Elec Rpt
City Hall- 21 Williamson Avenue - Winslow, Arizona 86047 - ( 928) 289- 2422
www. ci. winslow. az. us
RECEI'/ ED
1. Changes in Voter Turnout OFFICE Ot IHt rKt~ IDENT
Election Date # Registered Voters # Ballots Cast % Voter Turnout
I Primary Election
03/ 14/ 00 . j # unavailable 994 jl unknown
l GeneralElection ]# I 05/ 16/ 00 unavailable 1207 .• ; unknown
,., ..~".
Special Election
( Sales Tax) # unavailable 493 unknown
l 05/ 15/ 01
I ~~ IIIClI y Election
•
~/ 1? 1fI? # unavailable , 1043 unknown . ....
General Election
OS/ 21/ 02
( included Recall,
Charter Amendment 4448 1262 28.4%
Questions, Bond
Questions & 2% Tax
on Transient Lodging
of Rentals)
,
Special Franchise
Election # unavailable 191 unknown
03/ 11/ 03
neral Election
05/ 18/ 04 4008 1052 26.25% .. .... . .
Special
•• Referendum 4156 1940 46.68%
Election*
09/ 13/ 05
Special Recall
Election* 3510 1836 52.31%
11/ 08/ 05
,..
General/ Special
Election* 3502 1496 42.7%
05/ 16/ 06
Special Election*
05/ 15/ 07 3681 1280 • 34.8%
....,,
Primary Election*
03/ 11/ 08 3299 1502
,..........
General/ Special
• Election* 3345 45.5%
OS/ 20/ 08
* Mail Ballot Election
2. Cost of Mail Ballot Election Compared to Traditional Elections
Election Dates
Mar/ May 2000
Special 2001
mmp~,~",",,, "''" , w · ,,~ pm
Mar/ May 2002
Special 2003
I Mar/ MaY · · 2004
l Sepi2005
Nov 2005
Mar/ May 2006
May 2007
Mar 2008
2008
Total
Cost
$ 7,608
$ 7,850
$ 21; 0831
$ 4,491
$ 4,1742
$ 13; 9913
$ 7,012
# Ballots Cast
2201
493
2305
191
1052
1940
1836
1496
1280
1502
1523
Cost per
Ballot Cast
$ 3.46
$ 15.93
$ 9.15
$ 23.51
$ 2.05
$ 7.22
$ 3.82
$ 8.62
$ 9.56
$ 9.08
$ 7.68
Cost per
Registered Voter
Unknown due to # of
registered voters
unknown
Unknown due to # of
registered voters
$ 1.05
$ 3.37
$ 3.68
$ 3.32
$ 4.13
$ 3.50
3. Suggestions for Improvements or Refinements in the Mail Ballot Program
Voter feedback with this election was very positive and voters seemed satisfied with
the process.
4. Frequency and Severity of Mail Ballot Irregularities
A total of 40 ballots were rejected and not counted for our March Primary Election
with a total of 15 ballots rejected and not counted for our May General/ Special
Election.
5. Voter Satisfaction with the Process
This was the City of Winslow's fifth and sixth all mail ballot election and, as shown
with the number of ballots cast, voters are becoming more and more used to the
process.
City Hall served as a ballot drop off site for both the Primary and General Elections
with a total of 216 ballots received for the March Primary Election and 361 ballots
received for the May General/ Special Election.
6. Number of Non- Deliverable Ballots
Address- Correction- Requested Postcards were sent out to all registered voters prior
to the March Primary Election to assist with updating the voter registration list. This
proved to be beneficial as information from the Navajo County Recorder's Office
indicated that there were very few non- deliverable ballots returned to the county
( approximately 15 for each election).
1 This election included a recall, charter amendment questions, bond questions & a 2% tax on transient
lodging of rentals on the ballot, making it necessary to prepare and mail out publicity pamphlets.
2 This election involved only one election board and one tally board instead of two which decreased the
cost of the election.
3 This election was a referendum election which required a publicity pamphlet. Since this was the city's
first mail ballot election, additional advertising was done and postcards were mailed to every registered
voter to update the voter registration list.
4 This election included the special 1% sales tax on the ballot making it necessary to prepare and mail out
publicity pamphlets.
5 This election was a special election for the 2% tax on transient lodging of rentals wherein it was
necessary to prepare and mail out publicity pamphlets.
& r" his election included the cost of mailing out postcards to update the voter registration list and reflects
an increased cost for advertising legals in the local paper.
7This election included ten propositions on the ballot making it necessary to prepare and mail out
publicity pamphlets. Additional advertising was also done regarding the propositions.
