Voting begins Oct. 10

The first day to obtain and vote a vote-by-mail ballot for the November 8 Presidential General Election is Monday, Oct.10.
Santa Cruz County election officials plan to mail ballots on Tuesday, because Monday is a postal holiday, to the 78,208 permanent vote-by-mail voters and 7,090 voters who reside in a mail-ballot precinct.
Voters in a mail-ballot precinct are automatically mailed a ballot because there are a limited number of voters residing in their voting precinct for this election due to the various districts on the ballot.
Voters who want to vote in person may do so at the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department located at 701 Ocean St., Room 210 in Santa Cruz, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Even though Monday, Oct. 10 is a county holiday; the elections office will be open for voting. Voters may also obtain a ballot at the Watsonville City Clerk’s Office, 275 Main St., 4th Floor, 6th floor of the parking garage, in Watsonville, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To request that a ballot be mailed to you, voters may go online to www.votescount.com or call 831-3454-2060, or submit a written application. Vote-by-Mail ballot applications are on the back cover of the county’s Sample Ballot and Voter Information Guide that is being mailed to county voters starting this week.
Vote-by-mail ballot applications are also available at the City Clerk’s Offices in Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley.
Many voters use the vote-by-mail applications supplied by various political campaigns. Santa Cruz County election officials, however, stress that voters have the legal right to mail or deliver the applications directly to the local elections official rather than the political campaign.  Returning vote-by-mail applications to anyone other than the elections official may cause a delay that could interfere with the voter’s right to vote, officials warned.
The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Tuesday, November 1.
If you are not registered to vote or have moved or changed your name, the deadline to register to vote or update your registration is Oct. 24.
Voters can register to vote online at www.registertovote.ca.gov or pick up a card at any post office, library, city hall, or county elections office.