TOWN OF
Town of Payson
303 N. Beeline Highway
Payson, Arizona, 85541- 4306
December 18, 2008
RECEI'IED
OFFICE Of IHt. rl< t.~ IDENT
TownHaU
Police Dept.
Water Dept.
TDD
Fax
( 928) 474- 5242
( 928) 474- 5177
( 928) 474- 5242
( 928) 472- 6449
( 928) 474- 4610
The Honorable Timothy S. Bee
President of the Senate
1700 W. Washington, Senate Wing, Room 204
Phoenix, AZ 85007- 2890
The Honorable James P. Weiers
Speaker of the House of Representatives
1700 W. Washington, House Wing, Room 221
Phoenix, AZ 85007- 2890
Subject: Town of Payson's 2008 Mail Ballot Primary Election and 2008 Mail
Ballot Special November Election
Dear Sirs:
The Town of Payson held its first mail ballot election on September 09, 2003. The Town
of Payson held the 2008 Primary ( March 2008) and 2008 Special Election ( Nov 2008).
Pursuant to A. R. S. § 16- 409( B), the Town of Payson is submitting the following report
on the results of the mail ballot election.
1. Changes in voter turnout.
The Payson Town Council approved the mail ballot election process for the 2008 Primary
Election March 11, 2008 and 2008 General Election May 20, 2008, and the November
Special Election, November 4, 2008 ( Referendum). The votertumoutisas follows:
November 2008 Special
General 2008
Primary 2008
General 2006
Primary 2006
60%
No Election
57%
62%
59%
2. Relatiyecost ofthe mail ballot election compared to traditional elections.
The Town of Payson contracted with Election Operations Services to print and mail the
pamphlets and ballots and to calculate the votes on election night, and with the Gila
County Recorder's Office for our mailing list of active voters, precinct registers and
signature rosters. The cost for the 2008 Primary was $ 35,834 with 8,913 registered
voters, at a cost of $ 4.02 per voter The cost for the 2008 November Special Election was
$ 40,579 with 9,446 registered voters, at a cost of $ 4.30 per voter.
3. Suggestions for improving or refining the mail ballot program.
For the Town of Payson it has been working successfully and do not have anything to
improve our program.
4. Frequency and severity ofmail ballot irregularities.
The irregularities that occurred were:
We did not have any irregularities that occurred during our 2008 elections.
5. Voter satisfaction with the election process.
Voters have been satisfied, but they were confused that they still had to go to the polling
places or request early ballots for the Federal, State, and County Election when it was so
convenient to just receive their ballots in the mail. The citizens felt the all- mail ballot
was more secure than going to the polls because their signatures were verified and, if they
wanted they could deliver their ballots to Town Hall, saving the taxpayers money. At the
November 2008 Special Election 1,408 ballots were delivered to town hall saving the
Town of Payson $ 1,606.12 in postage. The elderly homebound or residents of nursing
homes liked the all- mail ballot because they could vote on their own and not have to
depend on someone else to drive them to the polls or come to their residence and assist
them with their ballots.
6. Number of nondeliverable ballots.
We had approximately 1,123 undeliverable ballots for the 2008 Primary and 854
undeliverable ballots forthe 2008 November Special Election which were delivered to
the Gila County Recorder to research fotn, ewaddresse~ l1b, dpq~ ging t9 the inactive list.
The Town of Payson anticipated that the mail ballot election process would be more
expensive the first time than the traditional election due to the mailing of the flyer/ mailer
to correct the rolls, however, the increase in voter turnout, cleaning up voter registration
rolls and voter convenience confirm the efficiency of mail ballot elections.
: k Since
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Silvia Smith
Town Clerk
