With the Nov. 3 general election just weeks away, some 230,000 mail-in ballots for Santa Barbara County voters were printed and arrived Monday at the U.S. Post Office in Goleta.
A semi-truck transporting pallets of vote-by-mail ballots made a brief stop at the county elections office at 4440-A Calle Real near Santa Barbara before heading to the U.S. Post Office on Storke Road for distribution to registered voters.
Two Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department motorcycle officers escorted the big truck traveling along the less than 4-mile route.
“They will go into the mail,” county Clerk- Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters Joe Holland said of the ballots. “Folks will start receiving their ballots this week and next week.
“As you can imagine,” he continued, “it might take a little while to distribute all of these ballots.”
All registered voters in California will automatically receive a ballot in the mail around the beginning of October because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Voters who don’t receive ballots by Oct. 12 should contact the county Registrar of Voters office by calling 805.568.2200.
More than 75 percent of California voters received a vote-by-mail ballot during the presidential primary in March, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
“We have been 75 percent vote-by-mail, so for us to add 50,000 vote-by-mail ballots — we got this,” Holland said. “We know how to do this.”
Under California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order to send mail-in ballots to the all of the state’s registered voters, elections officials in the county can start processing the ballots beginning Oct. 5.
“We are encouraging people to vote early,” said Holland, who also mentioned that there are 35 ballot drop boxes installed across the county.
Ballot drop boxes are “very secure” and weigh more than 600 pounds, he said.
“It’s an opportunity for you to vote your vote-by-mail ballot and deliver it directly to your elections official,” Holland said. “We will be picking up those ballots on a daily basis.”
Holland is sending a clear message to registered voters casting ballots: “Vote safe. Vote early. Vote by mail.”
Click here for Noozhawk’s Elections Guide for instructions on how to properly fill out a ballot and return it.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
