Selfies at the voting booth? Not quite.
Selfies have become popular on election days, so to ensure voter privacy, the elections office in San Benito County has created a special Elections Selfie Booth separate from the voting booths, so people can capture the moment. Check it out at the elections office, 440 5th St.
There is new excitement this year in the elections office on the second floor of the oounty building on 5th Street: new voting machines and a Presidential Primary on a new primary day, March 3.
That excitement has resulted in a record number of voter registrations in the county — 32,425 — with new voter registrations accepted at the main elections office through March 3.
The official March 3 Primary Election Day is more than a week away, but more than 4,000 vote-by-mail ballots had arrived at the San Benito County elections office as of Feb. 19.
This year, for the first time in California, every registered voter received a vote-by-mail ballot the week of Feb. 3.
It is expected that more than 60 percent of San Benito County voters will vote with these ballots, and that 70 percent of the county’s registered voters will cast ballots at one of the 15 polling places across the county. To find your polling place, go to sbcvote.us.
The new primary date, three months earlier than California’s previous primaries, puts Democratic Party voters’ choices for President in the national spotlight.
The presidential primary, combined with a hotly contested countywide ballot measure about commercial development on Highway 101 and contested primaries in three county supervisor districts have elections officials expecting a large turnout
Another change this year is the new marking method on ballots: they are “fill-in-the-bubble” selections, replacing the previous “connect-the-arrow” selections.
The county’s voting equipment enables voters to print out customized paper ballots from a large touch-screen device.
Voter kits sent to voters earlier this month indicated where they need to go on Election Day for in-person voting. Voters must go to the correct polling place location, or they will be redirected to their polling place or offered the opportunity to cast a vote as a Same Day Registrant, which is similar to a Provisional Ballot.
Local elections in San Benito County include the 20th Congressional District, the 30th Assembly District and county supervisor Districts 1, 2 and 5.
The Presidential nominees are voted on by party. There are currently six qualified parties in California. Voters can only vote for nominees for the party in which the voter is registered. The Qualified Parties are American Independent, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, Republican.
Voters registered as “No Party Preference” or with a non-qualified party will receive a ballot without a parties’ presidential candidate choices unless the voter chooses to crossover to the American Independent, Democratic or Libertarian parties, or re-registers in one of the other three parties.
Early Voting at the elections office
Feb.3 – March 3
Monday – Friday, 8am – 5pm
Weekend Voting at the elections office
Feb. 29, March 1
Saturday, Sunday, 9am – 3pm
Election Voting Day
March 3
Elections Office and 15 Polling Place Locations, 7am – 8pm
