Voters Are Offered Incentives

Vote, and get 20 percent off.

Coupon-clippers should especially like casting ballots in San Ramon this week. Voting is worth money - and it’s legal.

As an incentive to turn out for Tuesday’s election, several merchants are offering discounts to voters who present their ballot stubs.

The goods and services include: savings on hams and oil changes, free checking at a local bank, restaurant discounts, even a visit to a chiropractor.

“It could be that one extra push to get them to vote,” said Donna Burke, president of the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce.

Such incentives are illegal in federal elections, but they’re permitted in local California races, according to state officials.

“As long as an offer is made to all comers” and not limited to a certain party or people who voted for a certain measure, it’s legal, said Gary Huckaby of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.