Sacramento County mail-in ballots pour in at record pace as in-person voting kicks off

One-third of all registered voters in Sacramento County have already turned in their ballots as of Friday morning, county officials said, a record start to what is expected to be an all-time high number of votes by Election Day, Nov. 3.

The 283,000 votes are more than twice the amount registered at this point during the 2016 presidential election.

“We are extremely pleased that not only are people taking seriously our request to vote early, with one-third of ballots already in, we think we are going to see record turnout,” spokeswoman Janna Haynes said. “This is everything that we could hope for.”

Until now, voters have returned ballots via the U.S. Mail and via the county’s ballot drop boxes.

Starting Saturday, voters will be offered a third voting option with the opening of the initial 18 in-person “vote centers” around the county. Those centers will be open for voting every day through Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Another 66 centers will open on Saturday, Oct. 31, and will be open daily through Election Day.

Registered Sacramento voters can cast their ballot at any of those centers (addresses listed below), regardless of where in the county they live.

On Election Day, all vote centers will be open to accommodating anyone who gets in line by 8 p.m.

Because so many ballots are coming in early, county officials say they will begin the process of tabulating the votes on Monday. Election officials will not, however, press the button to show the actual vote count until the vote centers close at 8 p.m. on election night, Nov. 3.

No one in the county or on the county elections staff will know the early vote tallies until that moment, Haynes said.

Although vote centers will open on Saturday, Haynes said county officials encourage voters to fill out their ballots at home and deposit them in one of the 71 official ballot drop boxes or drop them in the mail. That will allow them to avoid potential lines at vote centers.

The vote centers will be designed to keep people socially distanced due to the coronavirus pandemic. Voters at the centers will be asked to wear a mask. Those who do not want to wear a mask can summon a vote center worker to collect a filled-out ballot from them outside the center, including in some cases from their car at the curb.

If a person refuses to wear a mask and insists on voting in a vote center, officials say they will accommodate the person, but may ask them to wait until a more distanced ballot booth is available.

Haynes said officials do not expect crowds at the vote centers this weekend, but said the centers could get more crowded closer to Election Day. The county is urging voters to vote prior to Nov. 3, and to consider coming to centers mid-morning or mid-afternoon to avoid lunch and post-work crowds.

The three main voting options are mail, drop box or vote in person:

▪ Mail: There have been concerns expressed about whether the Postal Service is capable of delivering mailed ballots on time. The federal postal service says election mail will be its No. 1 priority. If you vote by mail, it must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

▪ Drop box: The official county elections drop boxes are considered safe, officials say. There are no reports of fake or unofficial drop boxes in Sacramento County. Officials say they pick up ballots from the boxes every other day.

▪ Voting in person: This may involve standing in line, but earlier voters may avoid lines. Ballots are not counted at the vote center. They are shipped daily to the county registrar for processing.

To avoid double voting, officials at vote centers will check a real-time computer database to determine if voters have already mailed in a ballot. If someone manages to double vote (for instance, dropping a ballot in the mail, then going to a vote center before that ballot is processed by the county), the county will accept the first ballot that arrives at the processing center from that voter and invalidate the second ballot, Haynes said.

In those cases, the county also will forward that voter’s information to the Secretary of State for fraud review, Haynes said.

The county has listed its 71 ballot drop box locations on its voter registration department website. A shorter list of 58 of the drop boxes is included in the ballot envelope that was mailed to voters residences two weeks ago.

Vote Centers open Saturday

Sacramento County will open the first 18 vote centers throughout the county Saturday morning. The county will open another 66 vote centers on Oct. 31.

The first 18 centers are listed below. (On Election Day, all vote centers will be open longer hours, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

If you are in line at any of the voting sites before the closure hour, you will be allowed to vote.

• Citrus Heights, City Hall, 6360 Fountain Square Drive, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  
  
• Elk Grove, CNU Event Center, 9650 W. Taron Drive, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Elk Grove, The Center at District 56, 8230 Civic Center Drive, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Folsom, Bayside Church, 870 Glenn Drive, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Galt, Department of Human Assistance, 210 N. Lincoln Way, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• North Highlands, Murph – Emmanuel A M E Church, 4151 Don Julio Blvd., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Rancho Cordova, City Hall, 2729 Prospect Park Drive, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sacramento, Golden 1 Center, 500 David J. Stern Walk (validated parking, Downtown Commons West Garage), 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sacramento, Secretary of State Building, 1500 11th St., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sacramento, Oak Park Community Center, 3425 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sacramento, Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 4641 Marconi Ave., 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Florin area, Sacramento, Department of Human Assistance, 2450 Florin Road, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Parkway area, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 7595 Center Parkway (Enter from Tangerine Avenue), 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Arden Arcade, Richard T. Conzelmann Community Center, 2201 Cottage Way, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Larchmont/College Greens area, Unity of Sacramento Church, 9249 Folsom Blvd., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Florin/Vineyard area, Fletcher Farm Community Center, 7245 Fletcher Farm Drive, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Natomas, Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, 4000 Truxel Road, Suite 3 (Enter from Natomas Crossing Drive), 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• North Sacramento/Del Paso Heights, Greater Sacramento Urban League, 3725 Marysville Blvd., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.