Fax Machine Serves as Ballot Box in Gulf : Elections: California has used the device to send material to troops. But it is not one of the 33 states that will accept votes cast via the special setup.

Today’s elections mark a historic first: Some troops deployed in the Persian Gulf are casting a not-so-secret vote by fax.

The Pentagon made the special arrangement with 33 states because of problems caused by the sudden and massive deployment, including the long time it takes for absentee ballots to be mailed to and from Saudi Arabia.

Most servicemen and women in the gulf will continue to vote by mail, according to Henry Valentino, director of the Pentagon’s Voting Assistance Program. But the fax machine, plugged into an AT&T; phone line that has enabled troops to send electronic letters home, is playing an emergency backup role.

By late Monday, U.S. election officials had faxed 1,600 ballots to the gulf--using a toll-free 800 number. But only 20 had been returned by the device, Valentino said.

The deadline for receiving faxed ballots is poll-closing time today. Faxing voters must sign a statement saying they understand that they are waiving their right to a secret ballot.

California has faxed 184 ballots to Saudi Arabia, but is not one of the 33 states that has agreed to accept return ballots by fax. It is not clear if the ballots arrived in time to be returned by mail, which takes about 10 days.

The faxing has been a cumbersome operation for officials in California, Texas and other states where the ballots run numerous pages. The Los Angeles County ballot is 15 pages. The one in Harris County, Tex., (Houston) is 12.

“We have sent seven ballots through faxing, but very disappointingly, nothing has come back,” said Tony Sirvello, chief elections clerk in Harris County.

The Pentagon shipped more than 200,000 forms to the Persian Gulf so that troops could apply for absentee ballots by mail. The Associated Press, in a dispatch from Saudi Arabia on Monday, suggested that voting participation would be low. “Many servicemen and women said they had too much on their minds to think about today’s elections in the United States,” according to the wire report.

However, Valentino said there were indications from officials in many states that total absentee voting by the military would compare favorably with 1986, the last non-presidential election year. About 90% of the voting by military people stationed in the United States and abroad is done by absentee ballot.

“Some officials are being deluged with requests for absentee ballots,” Valentino said.

Spot checks by The Times found that absentee ballot requests by military people were way up in San Antonio, way down in Los Angeles, and down slightly in Houston.

By last Tuesday, officials in Bexar County, Tex., (San Antonio) had received 1,676 absentee ballots from service people, up from about 500 received in 1986.

“It’s very difficult to say why, other than the fact that in the last couple of years the Defense Department has been trying to encourage the military to vote from one year to the next, not just in a presidential year,” said Marco A. Gomez, a Bexar County clerk.

In Houston, county officials reported receiving about 1,000 absentee ballots from military personnel, down about 100 from 1986.

Los Angeles County officials said that the military had made 2,400 applications for absentee ballots this year, compared with 3,879 in 1986. The county has faxed 65 ballots to people in the gulf who listed Los Angeles as their last permanent residence.

Valentino said that each military unit has a voting assistance officer. Unit commanders are required to hold training sessions on the importance of voting at least twice during a federal election year. The commanders hand out cards that can be mailed to local election officials.