CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SONOMA COUNTY : Drive-Up Window Planned for Voters

Sonoma County has come up with a plan to make casting an absentee ballot as easy as buying a fast-food burger. Election officials are opening a window where motorists can pull up, sign their names and drop off their marked ballots. The window will shorten the often long lines of early absentee voters filing into the elections office, Deputy Registrar of Voters Janice Atkinson said. Her idea was approved easily at a recent meeting of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, despite some doubters. The plan is expected to take effect after the first of the year, when the registrar’s office moves to a new building in the county government complex in Santa Rosa. The new system, including the “teller’s” window and drive-up ramp, is expected to cost $9,100.