Parcel Tax Opponent Dishonest in Attempt to Discredit Voting Process

The District estimates that they save $200,000 by having an all-mail ballot versus the more traditional election, where people have to go to the polls and the county provides polling workers.

Moreover, the last election, in May of 2011, saw the parcel tax matter go to the voters in an all-mail ballot with no reported incidents.  Nevertheless, Jose Granda, who was flagged for improperly bringing up peripheral issues on the ballot statement by the opposition to the parcel tax, Measure C, continues to bring up the issue of the all-mail ballot, accusing leaders of “stealing our secret ballot right.”

There is an old adage from the legal world.  When the facts are on your side – pound on the facts.  When the law is on your side – pound on the law.  And when you have neither – pound on the table.

Mr. Granda is pounding on the table here because he does not believe that the parcel tax is going to lose on the merits.

He may argue, “We cannot separate Measure C from the process by which it is being offered.”  And therefore, “So if you do not like it, vote against Measure C and send a message to the school board that you do not like this kind of violation of your constitutional right to a secret ballot.”

But I have yet to see much evidence that the public really cares about this.

The crux of his argument is this: “When you vote absentee, you make the choice yourself to waive your right to a secret ballot. When you put that envelope in the mail, you know and accept that any election personnel who come in contact with your ballot know your name, your address, your signature and can look at how you voted.”

This is simply untrue.  And it shows a fundamental misunderstanding for how the process of opening a vote-by-mail ballot works.  They are opened in a transparent manner in a process that has a good deal of oversight including over the possibility of public viewing – just as they have when they count election night ballots.

Mr. Granda then goes on to rationalize: “An all-vote-by-mail election is very different. That constitutional right to a secret ballot when going to the polls has been taken away from you. In the case of Measure C, the Davis school board has made that choice for you and has imposed an all-vote-by-mail. Everyone’s ballot is not secret. We are being forced to vote without a secret ballot without any choice whatsoever.”

The only way that someone could open a ballot, and see how someone voted, would be to do it in front of a room full of people.

As Tony Bernhard, who understands this process better than most and certainly better than Jose Granda, who gets his facts completely wrong, writes, “All mailed ballot elections are conducted lawfully in accordance with California Elections Code Sections 4000-4108 (pertaining to all mailed ballot elections) and Sections 9100-9168 (pertaining to county elections).”

He continues, “Contrary to the assertions contained in these Arguments, there is no diminution or abrogation of the opportunity of supporters and opponents to observe all aspects of the election process.”

Furthermore, he writes, “Observers are welcomed to observe any and all parts of the election process, including the signature verification, opening and counting of mailed ballots.”

He notes that there are public notices provided both to the Grand Jury and in the Davis Enterprise “inviting observers to the election process. Written notice inviting observers is also posted outside the Elections Office.”

In short, Mr. Granda is absolutely wrong that anyone can look at a person’s ballot, because the ballot itself is not opened until this process is underway – a process that has oversight, transparency and scrutiny.

The worst part of Mr. Granda’s letter is that he is well aware of Mr. Bernhard’s statement, he has been into court and he has simply ignored the facts that Mr. Bernhard disclosed because they are inconvenient.

There is a word for that, it is dishonesty.  Mr. Granda is being dishonest with the public, creating an issue that does not exist because he cannot argue against the core arguments of the parcel tax.

Unfortunately, the Davis Enterprise has simply allowed the letter to stand without editorial correction noting its inaccuracy.

As Bob Dunning nails it when he writes, “On occasion I’ve noted that I much prefer voting in person as opposed to the current trend toward an all-mail ballot … I like waiting until the final day, then packing up the kids and walking to our polling place for this simple yet profound exercise in democracy … but never have I ever suggested that my preference has anything to do with a fear that the electoral process may be compromised by all-mail voting.”

—David M. Greenwald reporting