With the recall election less than 24 hours away and nearly
3,800 absentee ballots having not been turned in yet, local
elections officials are advising those voters to bring in their
ballots by hand.
”
If you mail them out today, we won’t get them in time for
Tuesday’s recall election,
”
said San Benito County Clerk John Hodges.
With the recall election less than 24 hours away and nearly 3,800 absentee ballots having not been turned in yet, local elections officials are advising those voters to bring in their ballots by hand.
“If you mail them out today, we won’t get them in time for Tuesday’s recall election,” said San Benito County Clerk John Hodges.
He said all absentee ballots have to be at the county’s elections office at 440 Fifth St. in Hollister by 5 p.m.
Officials said if voters cannot make it to the elections office on Monday or Tuesday, they can drop their sealed and signed ballot envelope to any polling place in the county.
Every registered voter is given a sample ballot pamphlet, which contains the location of their polling place. Anyone with questions about finding their nearest polling place can call the elections office at 636-4016.
Hodges said finding the appropriate polling place should be easy because the county is using almost all of the same locations that it used in the November 2002 election less than a year ago.
Hodges said because voters will have the option to vote more than once on the recall ballot – once on the recall itself and once for a candidate – they must make sure all the ballot cards remain inside the security sleeve that comes with the five ballot cards.
A number of voters are apparently confused as to whether they vote once or twice on the ballot, Hodges said. Each ballot will consist of five cards, three of those cards are just the names of the 135 candidates in the recall.
“On the first ballot you can vote yes or no on the recall, if you wish to stop there you can. But if you decide to, you have the right to vote for one of the other candidates listed on the ballot,” he said.
The way the recall election is structured, Hodges said it does not matter whether a person votes yes or no on the recall.
“They still have the right to vote for one of the candidates on the ballot. That way, if the recall is successful everyone will have had a chance to vote for the governor’s replacement,” he said.
However, Hodges is cautioning voters to make sure they do not vote for more than one candidate.
“If you vote for more than one candidate it will be considered an overvote and the vote will not count,” Hodges said. “Vote for one candidate only.”
He said each ballot must be checked by hand to make sure there is no overvote.
Officials said despite the historic and controversial nature of the election, the county has not seen a large increase in voter registration.
“We’re not getting the push that they are in getting on other places like San Francisco,” Hodges said.
Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
