Campaign literature filling voters mail boxes

If you’re one of the more than 170,000 registered voters in the Coachella Valley — your mailbox has no doubt been full of campaign flyers. It’s just the first wave with the various campaigns wanting to get their respective messages to voters leading up to the June 3 statewide primary election.

“A lot of them will do mailers because in the long run it’s cheaper, you can target a specific region and a specific people to get the best bang for your buck,” said Johnny Hildreth, chairman of the Republican Organizing Committee of the Desert.

The literature is showing up at voters’ homes earlier than ever before.

“I think I’ve been getting things like that in the mail for the last two weeks, and I just got my ballot yesterday,” said Palm Springs resident Jay Uhte.

Uhte was referring to his absentee or mail-in ballot. Campaigns can’t get to voters soon enough since according to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office, there’s the potential that 64 percent of voters in the Coachella Valley will cast their ballots by mail.

Nonetheless — there’s no guarantee the mailers will make a difference.

“I really don’t pay much attention to it because I like to read a little deeper, where I am getting two perspectives to something and I think when I get those I am going with one perspective,” said Cathedral City resident Dolly Schultz.

Schultz, a well informed voter, will no doubt be happy to hear the campaign literature will cease as soon the campaigns are alerted your mail-in ballot has arrived at the registrar’s office.

“Because we do get a report from the ROV, the registrar of voters for those people they have received a ballot, we don’t know how people have voted, but we do know that that have sent in their ballot,” said Elle Kurpiewski, office manager of the Democratic Headquarters of the Desert.

May 27 is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot.

For more information — go to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters website at www.voteinfo.net.