Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin invites residents to observe activities associated with the March 3 election.
The schedule of activities is as follows:
Vote-by-Mail Ballot Mailings: As of Feb. 19, staff mailed 122,071 vote-by-mail ballots, 3,979 of which are second ballots and 112,996 are permanent vote-by-mail voters. Santa Cruz County has 162,497 registered voters.
So far, 6,784 vote-by-mail ballots have come back from voters. When vote-by-mail ballots are returned, ballots are keyed in as received and signatures verified. If signatures do not compare or a signature is missing, efforts will be made to contact the voter. There is a letter posted on our website for voters to complete to “cure” their signature. Location: County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz.
Vote-by-Mail Ballot Processing: Elections Code allows election officials to begin processing vote-by-mail ballots 10 business days prior to the election. Activities include: opening ballot envelopes, removing ballots, duplicating damaged ballots, and preparing the ballots to be counted. Location: County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz.
Early voting and “Same Day” Registration: Voters can pick up a vote-by-mail ballot at the Santa Cruz County Elections Office and Watsonville City Clerk’s Office. Both offices will operate as a “Same Day” Voter Registration Center. Voters who missed the Feb. 18 deadline to register may register and vote up to and including Election Day.
This service will be expanded to 8 additional locations starting Saturday, Feb. 29. Hours are: Saturday & Sunday, February 29 & March 1, 9am to 5pm; Monday, March 2, 8am to 5pm; Tuesday, March 3, 7am to 8pm.
Locations are:
- Simpkins Family Swim Center – 979 17th Ave, Santa Cruz
- UC Santa Cruz Bay Tree Conference Center – Quarry Plaza
- Capitola City Hall – Community Room, 420 Capitola Ave, Capitola
- Community Foundation – 7807 Soquel Drive, Aptos
- Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health – 1430 Freedom Blvd, Watsonville
- Pajaro Valley Community Conference Room – 85 Neilson St, Watsonville
- Scotts Valley Skypark classroom – 361 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley
- Zayante Fire Protection District – 7700 E. Zayante Road, Felton
Voters may go to a polling place any time between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, and register and vote there. It is recommended they go to the polling place for their current address so they will get a ballot containing all the contests they are eligible to vote.
Election Officer Training Classes
Classes began in February.
Check www.votescount.com for schedules.
Election Day: A list of polling sites is posted at www.votescount.com. Polling places are open Tuesday, March 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Anyone is allowed to observe any procedure at the polls (except as to how someone voted). Persons are permitted to observe voting but MUST NOT INTERFERE with the duties of the Elections Officers.
They may not handle official ballots or intrude upon the voting process. There will be a Public Alpha Index at the polls that will be updated during the day as to who has voted. Poll checkers may view that index to see who has voted.
Voting in the Primary — Party Matters: Under a new urgency law signed by the Governor on February 13, voters may change their political party at the polls without having to re-register to vote.
They will simply fill out a short form indicating their new party of registration, and they will be allowed to vote a regular ballot. This is available only for those voters who are registered to vote at their current address under their current name.
If the voter has moved or changed their name, they can still change their party, but they must do it under the Same Day Voter Registration procedures.
Since a voter’s political party registration will determine which Presidential Primary ballot they can vote, simplifying party changes at the polls will be very helpful.
Voters who are registered as No Party Preference (aka, nonpartisan, decline to state, independent) will be offered the option of voting one of four ballots:
- Democratic
- American Independent
- Libertarian or
- A ballot without the office of president
NPP voters who are voting by mail and received a ballot without the office of president who wish to get a replacement ballot for one of the parties above, may do so by calling or emailing our office or completing a form on our website. Or they can surrender their ballot at their polling place and get the ballot of their choice.
Election Night Procedures and Ballot Counting: After the polls close, results from the vote-by-mail ballots will be released at the office and online at www.votescount.com. Election officials who have worked the polls will bring their voting equipment, indexes, and voted ballots from the polls to one of four return centers located in the county.
All ballots will be brought to the County Government Center on Election Night for the votes to be tallied. Plans are to release four vote count reports on Election Night, vote-by-mail ballots at 8:30 p.m., some poll results at 11 p.m., more precinct results after midnight, and a final semi-official report once all precincts are in and tallied, which could be 2 a.m. or later.
There will be a number of outstanding ballots to be counted during the canvass: provisional, remaining vote-by-mail ballots, damaged ballots, ballots that need to be duplicated, etc.
The semi-official results will be available in hardcopy at the office and online at www.votescount.com. Location: County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz.
The Official Canvass: Begins Wednesday, March 4. The canvass includes processing all remaining ballots, researching provisional ballots and same day voter registration ballots, auditing the polls, and conducting a 1% manual tally of the paper ballots.
A random drawing of the precincts subject to the 1% manual tally will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 5. Location: County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz.
Certified Vote: The elections official shall prepare a certified statement of the results of the election within 28 days of the election which is falls on a holiday, Tuesday, March 31, so it is moved to the next business day, Wednesday, April 1. Location: County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz.
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If you would like to be an election observer, notify Gail Pellerin at [email protected], 831-454-2419, or Tricia Webber at [email protected], 831-454-2409.
