Voting Matters event set for Thursday

Join Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin at the fifth Voting Matters at 6 p.m. Thursday on Zoom. The event will discuss voting options and headlines that are causing people concern about our democratic process.

“Voters are more engaged in this election than ever before, and they have lots of questions,” Pellerin said in a prepared release. “Voting Matters is the perfect forum for people to ask the questions that are on their minds and get reliable information about this election.”

Pellerin said she created the “Voting Matters” calls because her office has not been able to do its typical voter outreach events in person due to COVID-19. Also, because of the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order requiring elections officials in California to mail ballots to all active registered voters.

There are 15 ballot drop boxes installed throughout the county for voters to easily return their voted ballots. Voters can also mail their ballots if they are postmarked on or before Election Day. In addition, voters may drop their ballot off in person at one of 18 voting locations that will be open Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.

Consolidating voting locations improves the county’s ability to protect health and safety, including implementing physical distancing and wearing masks, disinfecting surfaces and voting equipment, providing hand sanitizer and more, including screening poll workers for symptoms. Voters will be asked to follow these guidelines to protect themselves and to protect others.

To join “Voting Matters” on Zoom, visit us02web. zoom.us. To participate via phone, call 669-900-9128. The meeting ID is 867 0754 7893 and the passcode is 523457.