Bay Area election officials seeing unprecedented levels of early voting
SAN FRANCISCO - Bay Area county elections officials say they are seeing unprecedented levels of early voting this year.
Turnout has already surpassed 40% in many counties and another surge is expected at the end of the week with the opening of hundreds of in-person early voting centers that are intended to provide extra space for pandemic social distancing and services such as drive-by ballot boxes and last-minute registrations through election day.
Due to the pandemic, all registered voters in California were sent a mail-in ballot.
Ballots must be returned by Nov. 3 to the county registrar's office, a voting center, a polling place, or placed in an official dropbox. Ballots will also be accepted if postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by the registrar's office by Nov. 30.
Voters may opt to vote in person instead of mailing or dropping off their ballot. California eligible voters can register as late as the day of the election.
San Francisco Director of Elections John Arntz says 46% or 237,000 of the city's 520,000 registered voters had voted as of Tuesday.
At the Contra Costa County Elections office in Martinez, the ballot-counting machines are buzzing.
"Here we are one week ahead of the election and we already are looking at a 50% turnout," said Scott Konopasek, the Contra Costa County Assistant Registrar, "I've been doing this 25 years. I've never seen voters vote at this rate so early."
"Everyone vote, it's important," said Aime Maricich, a Crockett voter who brought her son with her to drop off her ballot at a drop box in Martinez, "Since it's such a big election we wanted to vote early."
"I want to make sure my vote counts and by bringing it to the voting office I know it's secure and safe," said Bobbette Crosse, a voter from Pittsburg.
Some Bay Area county registrars said they are seeing record early voter turnout: in Alameda County, voter turnout is 42%, Contra Costa 48%, Napa 40%, San Francisco 46%, and Santa Clara 42%. Solano County has 38%, while in Sonoma 51% of ballots have been cast.
Alameda County Registrar Tim Dupuis says voter registration numbers have also increased.
The county has 966,000 registered voters so far for the November 3rd election compared to 880,000 people in the last 2018 mid-term election.
"This is incredible how many voters are voting early.," said Dupuis.
Solano County assistant registrar John Gardner says his office made a video for voters to alert them of changes this year.
For added safety during the pandemic, the video shows how election sites will have extra sanitizing protocols, with masks and social distancing required. There will also be curbside drive-by ballot drop-offs and curbside voting where people can stay in their vehicle, receive a ballot from an election worker, and vote in their cars.
Some counties also plan to open early voting centers from Saturday through election day for people to drop off ballots or vote in person.
"We are working to make sure in-person voting goes as smoothly as possible. Our in-person voting will start Saturday, October 31st. Early voting days will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Election Day is 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.," said Sonoma County registrar Deva Proto.
"This year of course is a little different, but with homeschooling, that has got us putting it in early more than anything. We would normally go to the polls but with school, that's changed our approach this year," said Ralphie Martinez of Martinez.
"Whatever side you choose to pick, it's very important to vote," said Lasalle Strong of Antioch.
Napa County Registrar John Tuteur says it's not too late for eligible voters to register, even up to November 3rd.
"In California, you can still register to vote up to and including election day, but you have to do it in person," said Tuteur.
Many registrars say one common mistake voters make is forgetting to sign the envelope. A lack of signature, however, does not mean your ballot will be tossed in the trash. Instead, the county elections officials have several weeks to email and call the voter to confirm eligibility
Scott Konopasek, the Contra Costa County Assistant Registrar says there have been no signs of voter fraud. His office has also switched from paper voter lists to electronic tablets that update voter status so if someone has already voted, the database alerts election workers if the person tries to vote a second time.
Don't expect all of the ballots to be counted on election night, election officials warn.
"We hope to have 95% of all our ballots counted by Thursday, Nov. 12," said Tuteur, adding that all registrars will need to wait until the final mail-in ballots trickle in by November 20th before they can finalize their counts.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@foxtv.com and follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU or Facebook @NewsJana
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Here are links to all 9 Bay Area County Registrar Offices:
San Francisco Dep. of Elections
San Mateo County Elections Office