IT’S A NO GO FOR CARY VOTE BY MAIL

CARY, NC – With the draft bill for a Vote By Mail pilot program being pulled from the North Carolina Senate's State and Local Government Committee agenda this week, Cary voters are back to using a traditional election format for the May 3, 2005 Clean Water Bond referendum.  Last week, the Cary Town Council voted unanimously to support the Wake County Board of Elections’ request to make North Carolina history by holding the state’s first Vote By Mail election, but this could only occur if the General Assembly ratified the necessary enabling legislation and did so in time for the Board of Elections to make it a reality.  

According to Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher, pulling the bill at this point will no longer provide sufficient time for the State Board of Elections and the Wake County Board of Elections to implement policies and procedures and to educate Cary voters.  

Proponents of Vote By Mail report higher voter turnout, increased convenience to voters, and additional time for voters to fully read and consider ballot issues without the pressure of people waiting in line behind them.  Vote By Mail also creates a paper trail, and if Vote By Mail were to have been used in Cary , officials estimate that the cost for the election might have dropped by as much as 30 percent, or up to $25,000.  

“While Vote By Mail failed to materialize for our upcoming referendum, the Town of Cary will continue to support the Board of Elections as they work to implement reliable ways to increase voter turnout at reduced cost to taxpayers,” said Cary Mayor Ernie McAlister.  

The Town of Cary’s May 3^rd Clean Water Bond referendum will ask Cary voters to give the Town permission to use as needed a special type of financing—General Obligation bonds—in the amount of $10 million to preserve additional open space and $110 million to help pay for Cary’s share of new, regional wastewater facilities.  General Obligation financing enables governments to borrow money at low interest rates, opening the way for projects to be completed at lower costs than with other sorts of financing.  Cary citizens last approved the use of GO bond financing in 2003 to support $160 million in transportation and recreation improvements.  

Visit the ’05 Clean Water Bond Referendum Web section at www.townofcary.org for details on the referendum.

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