The more than 91,000 voters in Santa Cruz County who have been mailed ballots for the November Presidential Election won’t have to hunt for a postage stamp to return their ballot, because postage is now paid for Santa Cruz County voters.The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors this summer approved a County Clerk/Elections budget with enough money specifically to cover the cost of return postage for vote-by-mail ballots.There are now several options for returning a vote-by-mail ballot.Voters may mail it in the postage-paid envelope. Ballots postmarked no later than Tuesday, Nov. 8 and received by the elections official by the third day after the election will be counted once the voter information is verified. Since Friday after the election this year is a holiday, ballots received by Monday, Nov. 14 that are postmarked on or before Nov. 8 are eligible to be counted, said County Clerk Gail Pellerin.Voters also may drop off mail-in ballots any time of the day or night. One of five 24-hour ballot boxes is in Scotts Valley, at 1 Civic Center Dr., in the Scotts Valley City Hall parking lot.Or, voters may bring their ballots into the County Elections Office during regular business hours.Voters also may return the ballot on Election Day to any polling place in Santa Cruz County 7a.m. to 8 p.m.Pellerin reminded voters they must sign and date the envelope before sealing their ballot inside. The signature on the ballot envelope must compare to the signature on the voter registration card on file at the County Elections Office.The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8.For more information, contact the County Clerk/Elections Department at 831-454-2060 or go to www.votescount.com.

Dust off your rain gauges.

The first day to obtain and vote a vote-by-mail ballot for the November 8 Presidential General Election is Monday, Oct.10.

On the campaign trail

“Get Santa Cruz County Moving” is the motto of the aggressive and well-funded campaign to build voter support for an additional half-cent (on a dollar) sales tax to fund more than a half-billion dollars in transportation improvements over the next 30 years.

The Zayante Fire Protection District hopes to stabilize funding and increase its on-site staff through the passage of Measure O, a new parcel tax for the property owners in the mountain district.