Early voting setting record pace in county
Election Day 2020 is 19 days away, but more than 29,000 Solano County voters have already returned their mailed ballots since Oct. 5, the first early-voting day, and the numbers are setting a record pace, reflecting a nationwide trend, a county Registrar of Voters official said Thursday.
Assistant Registrar of Voters John Gardner confirmed the latest figures during a brief telephone interview but said they needed “to be put into context,” since all registered California voters, 21 million, have received mailed ballots, 252,000 of them in Solano County alone, and the pandemic continues.
“We sent our ballots out early and we also have 25 percent more registered voters,” he said, adding, “Yes, it’s busy but we have more voters now.”
He attributed the robust re
sponse, as of Wednesday at 5 p.m. — nearly 12 percent of the total number of ballots sent — to an undeniable “high interest in the election and the turnout.”
By comparison to the same time during the 2016 election season, only 13,000 mailed ballots had been returned to the Registrar in the County Government Center in Fairfield, noted Gardner.
“So clearly, there’s more interest and more turnout even though it (the response) is couched with 25 percent more voters.”
Ballots are coming via the mail, from the 16 dropoff boxes around the county, and from in-person visits at the second-floor Registrar offices.
Statewide, more than 1.5 million ballots have been returned by voters so far, a “massive increase” compared to some 150,000 ballots re
turned at the same point in the 2016 election, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a press release Wednesday.
“Californians are voting early in historic numbers,” he said. “We knew the COVID-19 pandemic would pose significant challenges, but elections officials have prepared and voters have responded. More Californians voting early will mean a safer Election Day for everyone — voters, poll workers, and elections officials alike. By voting early, you help preserve in-person voting for those who need it — including our neighbors with disabilities, those who need language assistance, or those who need access to same-day voter registration.”
Nationwide, more than 14 million Americans have cast ballots in early voting so far, The Hill, a Washington, D.C., news website, reported Wednesday.
Gardner described Thursday’s foot traffic in the Registrar’s office as “steady and smooth, a constant stream of people but not enough
to cause a line, so kudos to our staff for expediting people through the process.” He also reminded voters to observe common pandemic safety measures when visiting county offices: Wear a mask and practice social distancing.
When Solano voters finish marking their ballot, Registrar staff wipe down and disinfect voting booths and “the flap on the ballot box,” he noted, adding, “It’s the flap that people touch all the time. We’re trying to keep that clean and sanitized.”
Unlike in Southern California, there have been no reports of unauthorized ballot drop-off boxes in Solano County, Gardner said.
The California Republican Party has admitted to using unauthorized drop-off boxes, placing them at churches, gun shops and elsewhere, and promotes them as “official” and “secure,” but the state GOP, asserting the laws do not expressly prohibit ballot harvesting, has stirred a legal standoff with top state
officials and the Democratic Party.
Gardner said local official drop- off boxes are authorized only by Solano County Registrar of Voters Tim Flanagan and they are “physically secured and monitored by people all the time,” with the monitors wearing photo IDs. The ballots are retrieved every day, he added.
On Oct. 29 and afterward, voters will have the option of dropping off their ballots at any one of 10 curbside locations throughout the county, he noted.
As early voting continues, Gardner said the process appears “to be on track.”
“We hope that people take advantage of the drop- off boxes or the polling places,” he said, adding that in-person voting on Election Day may require standing in line for a time.
If that occurs, he urged “patience and grace” from everyone.
“We’ll get through this,” added Gardner.