Vote by mail begins

Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that vote by mail for Californians began on Monday for the Nov. 4 elections with estimates it could account for 25 percent of the total vote.
Bowen since in the 2004 presidential election, absentee ballots were 32 percent of the 12.6 millino votes cast and represented fully 58 percent of the votes cast in the low turnout June primary election.
"Interest in the Nov. 4 election is going through the roof and I wouldn't be surprised to see a record number of Californians cast ballots," Bowen said.
"Any Californian can vote by mail for any reason. Many people enjoy voting at the polls on Election Day, but an increasing number of voters find the mail option to be an easy way to beat the crowds by voting at their convenience."
Bowen said her office has processed between 6,000 and 10,000 registrations a day due to the voter registration efforts of both parties.
County elections officials begin mailing out ballots to the more than 4 million permanent vote-by-mail voters.
The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot for the November election is Oct. 28.