Approximately 250,000 vote-by-mail ballots for Santa Barbara County are scheduled to go out to voters beginning on Oct. 5, and election officials are urging residents to send them back sooner rather than later.  

“The sooner you get your ballot into the elections division, the sooner we can process it,” said Martin E. Cobos, the county’s chief deputy registrar of voters.

The county has seen more people waiting until the last minute over the past few years, Cobos said, which slows down election results.  

Noozhawk reported that the county rejected 2,600 late ballots in November 2025. This is 14 times as many late and uncounted ballots as the previous election. Another 2,300 late ballots were rejected in the June 2026 election, including ones that were mailed on Election Day.

Adding to the confusion this year were new rules proposed by the Trump Administration to track vote-by-mail ballots and ballot envelopes. The County Elections Office expected to have a normal ballot mailing process even with that uncertainty, and then the Supreme Court blocked those new rules on Monday.

Under the proposed changes, vote-by-mail ballot envelopes would have to be redesigned to add a barcode to track the ballot, and the U.S. Postal Service would have to approve the new design.

States would also have been required to submit lists of voters to a federal online portal. The federal government proposed that ballots that do not follow those rules would not have been accepted by the U.S. Postal Service for delivery to voters.

The Postal Service issued the rule changes in August after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March calling for an overhaul to the vote-by-mail voting process.

Multiple state attorneys filed lawsuits challenging the changes, arguing that states and Congress oversee elections.

The U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the orders, but the Trump Administration appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court issued a decision Monday rejecting the proposed restrictions on vote-by-mail ballots.

In a statement, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber supported the decision, saying the uncertainty is behind us.

“The ability to participate in an election is more than a procedure; it is a symbol of the very freedoms that make our democracy the bedrock of America and an example for the rest of the world,” Weber said.

“Now, we can finally move forward and get back to what we do best: conducting our elections without a dark cloud hanging over us — fairly, openly, for the people, by the people. No questions asked.” 

Before the Supreme Court decision was announced, Cobos said his office planned to conduct the election as normal. At the time, they were not told to make any changes.

“At this point, we’re just conducting the election as we generally would be,” Cobos said Monday afternoon. “Until we’re informed that there’s any kind of modification through the courts, we are business as usual right now. We’re preparing to serve all the voters.”  

Cobos said the County Elections Office has been assured by the Postal Service that its envelope already meets the new design standards.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 election are scheduled to go out in the mail beginning on Oct. 5. Cobos said that even though the ballots will go out on the fifth, they will still take a couple of days to be delivered.

Voter information guides will go out to residents beginning on Sept. 24.

This year, vote-by-mail ballots will have two cards due to the number of elections and measures. The cards will consist of an A card and a B card.

“In order to fully cast your ballot, you will have to fill out both cards and return them to the elections division,” Cobos said.

Voters can drop off their completed ballots at one of the county’s 18 drop boxes, which are available 24 hours a day beginning Oct. 5. They can also drop off completed ballots at the elections division offices in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.

Cobos said he hopes people turn in their ballots early, but it’s more important that they vote.

“It’s an opportunity for every registered voter to have a voice, and that’s what we’re looking at,” he said. “We don’t see anything on the horizon that would prevent that, and we’re looking forward to serving the voters in this election.”