NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY REMINDER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Amount of registered voters in Solano has gone up since 2018
With just over 40 days remaining until Election Day on Nov. 3, citizens in Vallejo and Solano County were reminded on Tuesday that before they can make a difference, there is some business to attend to.
Like registering to make a difference.
In celebration of National
Voter Registration Day, Faith Food Friday Volunteer Manager Mary Ann Buggs was educating many people in front of Faith Food Fridays on Solano Avenue about how to register and where to vote.
“It’s a little slower today, but this is the third straight year I’ve done this,” Buggs said. “Basically, people who come up want to know if they’ve already registered so we have ways to find that out for them. Other questions people have are about qualifications. If they moved, do they have to reregister? Things like that.”
Buggs said many of the homeless come in and ask which polling station they have to go to on Nov. 3.
“We have a large homeless population, but even if you’re homeless you can still vote,” Buggs said. “When we tell them they can vote at any of the polling stations they get excited and say, ‘OK, yeah I’ll do that.’”
Buggs said the event is usually a festive one, “a reminder that that the election is coming.” However, she said this year it’s been a little different.
“Oh, no. This year is not the same at all,” Buggs said, with a laugh. “Although it seems people gathered are mostly talking about the Vallejo Mayor race and not the United States presidential election, which is what I would have maybe expected. But these people here today are Vallejoans through and through.”
Solano County was also urging people to register to vote on Tuesday, telling people they could check their status by visiting www.RegisterToVote. Ca.Gov.
According to the Solano Co. Registrar of Voters, the number of registered voters is up in 2020. This year there are 251,636 registered voters — up from the
231,510 registered voters in 2018. Of those, 121,428 have registered as Democrats, while 57,113 have registered as Republicans. Another 73,095 have registered as Other. The amount of voters requesting to vote by mail is 194,912 or 77.4 percent.
“Voter Registration is at an all-time high in Solano County,” said Solano County Chief Information Officer and Registrar of Voters Tim Flanigan in a press release. “More than 250,000 Solano County residents are already registered to vote, and, in honor of National Voter Registration Day, we ask everyone to encourage their family, friends and neighbors to register to vote and/or update their registration if they’ve moved.”
Ballots for the Nov. 3 General Election will be delivered to local United States Post Office processing centers on Sept. 26 and handled by the agency as part of their mail delivery service. Voters should start receiving their ballots early next week. All voters can sign-up for ballot tracking to find out exactly when their ballot will arrive at california.ballottrax.net/voter/ .
In addition to providing mail-in ballot voting options for voters, the Solano County ROV has established more than 15 ballot drop-off locations across the county starting Monday, Oct. 5. Early voting also begins on Oct. 5 at the Solano County Registrar of Voter’s Office, located at 675 Texas St, Suite 2600 in Fairfield. Details on voting options and key election dates are available on the ROV website www.SolanoCounty.com/ Elections .
For persons interested in serving the election as a poll worker can apply online at www.SolanoCounty.com/Elections and click the “Poll Workers” icon, or text the word “SOLANO” to 2VOTE (28683 — Message and data rates may apply). One can also register in person at the Registrar of Voters Office between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Call (707) 784-6675 for details.