Early voting begins Monday for June 3 primary

It's time to vote. Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar says sample ballots and voter pamphlets will be mailed to voters on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Monday, the first day of early voting, 129,000 absentee ballots will be mailed to Fresno County voters.

This is an especially important time for the campaigns because this will be a low-turnout election. Many voters will choose to vote by mail, and not cast balots at the polls on June 3. Salazar predicts a voter turnout of 25% to 30%. I think it will be closer to 25%. The elections for Fresno mayor, City Council and Board of Supervisors could well be won in the mailboxes of voters. The candidates better have a sophisticated early-voting strategy.

The main reason for the expected low turnout is California decided to hold two primary elections this year. The presidential contest was split off from the other races, with that primary being held on Feb. 5. That has left candidates in the June 3 primary scrambling for attention. It would be a different race if this primary had the presidential candidates on the ballot.

But that's old news. Now the candidates and their campaigns must figure out which voters will actually participate in this election.