COVID-19 masks, MAGA hats and lines: Here’s Sacramento’s last-minute voting info
If you intend to vote in person and you worry about waiting in line at a vote center, don’t vote Tuesday, elections officials say.
The Sacramento County elections office will open 66 vote centers Saturday throughout the county for continued early voting through the weekend and Monday. Eighteen vote centers have already been open in Sacramento since last week. Voters can go to any center.
Similarly, vote centers are either already open or will open Saturday in surrounding counties of Placer, Yolo and El Dorado. Vote center sites and hours are listed on each county’s elections office websites, and in materials sent via mail to voters.
Some people enjoy the old-school tradition of voting in person on Tuesday. But, with vote levels expected to set records in all four counties, officials suggest in-person voters cast ballots this weekend and Monday.
“We expect lines on Tuesday,” county spokeswoman Janna Haynes said. “We are suggesting people who want to vote in person to vote before Tuesday.”
A record number of voters have already had their say. As of Thursday, Sacramento County elections officials say they had received ballots from 46% of the county’s registered voters, most of them via mail or in drop boxes.
In El Dorado County, 52% of registered voters had cast their ballots as of Thursday, according to elections officials in that county. In Placer, the Friday morning total was 53%. Yolo reported 48% Friday morning.
Despite some concerns about the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to handle an expected record number of mail-in ballots, Sacramento officials said Friday they have been receiving ballots efficiently from postal officials, with one- or two-day turnarounds.
Votes must wear masks
Voters are required to wear masks at vote centers under California rules. Sacramento County health officials Friday said voters should feel confident that they can vote in person and remain safe.
“We can be comfortable in all aspects of voting,” Sacramento health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson said, “including people who go to the polls on election day. There are very good mechanisms in place to protect people.”
If a voter refuses to wear a mask, Sacramento elections officials say they will attempt to accommodate the person anyway, despite the mask rule, by asking the person to stand aside while they arrange a voting booth that is physically distant from where other voters are.
After an incident last weekend involving a voter who wore a Trump hat and t-shirt to a vote center, Sacramento officials are warning voters election law prohibits people from electioneering or wearing advertisements for ballot measures or candidates within 100 feet of a vote center.
Election officials called police during that incident last weekend. That voter was required to take his hat off and turn his shirt inside out.
Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Courtney Bailey-Kanelos said polling site volunteers are being trained on how to handle inappropriate behavior, including people who attempt to intimidate others.
“Any confrontational or aggressive behavior, they will be asked to leave, period,” she said. “If they refuse, we will call the sheriff or police. We’ve done this before. The sheriff was out there in a matter of minutes.”
“We have met with the county sheriff and given them a list of voting locations.”
Three voting options
Voters still have three main options for voting in the final days before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Voters can mail in ballots up to Tuesday, as long as they put them in Postal Service collections boxes prior to the last pick-up time listed on the outside of the collection box.
Voters also can fill out their ballot at home and drop it in one of their county’s ballot drop boxes. Locations are listed on county elections websites.
“For voters that have the ability to use a drop box, we prefer they do so,” said Placer County elections chief Ryan Ronco. “Those ballots come directly to our offices with no middleman and we don’t have to pay return postage on those envelopes so it saves taxpayer dollars.”
Voters also can drop off a completed vote-by-mail ballot at vote centers without waiting in line. In most cases, you should be able to hand it to one of the election officials at the front entrance.
Sacramento County officials say they plan to release an initial vote count at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night, and say they are hoping that tally will include all ballots cast over the weekend at vote centers, as well as ballots placed in drop boxes over the weekend, and all mail-in ballots that land in their office by Monday.
Federal law enforcement prepared
Federal officials also will be on alert for possible problems, and U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott has named two veteran prosecutors to handle any issues.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Khasigian has been named as the District Election Officer to handle complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses at voting sites within the Eastern District of California, which stretches from Bakersfield to the Oregon state line.
Khasigian will be on duty while the polls are open, and can be reached by the public at 916-554-2700 or 916-554-2723.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hemesath has been named to a new post as the National Security Cyber Specialist for the district and will respond to any possible digital election threats, Scott said. For instance, suspicious online or social media posts that may be from foreign entities can be reported to the phone numbers above or to the FBI.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure this is a safe election and people should not be afraid or intimidated in the exercise of their constitutional right to vote,” Scott said in an interview. “Attempts to intimidate have no place in our election.”
Scott said lawyers from his office will join FBI agents at a command post set up to accept allegations of election fraud or other problems, and members of the public can report issues 916-746-7000 or at tips.fbi.gov.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 11:15 AM.