Your Y-S election officials ensure daily safety of vote-by-mail system briefing
Yuba-sutter residents can expect to begin receiving their vote-by-mail ballots any day now ahead of the presidential election next month.
Due to COVID-19, every registered voter in California will be receiving a ballot by mail this election. Ballots in Sutter County have already been sent out while Yuba County election officials expected to get them in the mail on Oct. 5.
Concerns have been raised by some in recent months, including the president, over the safety of the vote-bymail process. Yuba County Clerk-recorder Terry Hansen assured voters that the system has checks and balances in place to prevent fraud and that the state has been using the system successfully for decades.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the general public is unaware of the safeguards in place,” Hansen said. “Stories of ballots being sold or given away are just not true. In every county in California, once a ballot is in our physical possession, there must be two poll workers present in order to handle it. I’m not even allowed to touch ballots without someone else watching what I’m doing, so there is constant oversight.”
Hansen said the majority of California residents have been voting by mail for decades, and the U.S. Postal Service has
had zero issues handling those ballots.
“The Postal Service has been excellent in our two cities. When they receive a large amount they’ll work with us to come pick them up early,” she said. “We have had absolutely no problems with California handling them and we’ve been doing it a long time.”
Alternatives
Residents who don’t want to send the ballots back by mail can drop them off at drop boxes located in front of both election office buildings, which are under surveillance and emptied regularly. Ballots can also be dropped off at the election offices themselves or at any polling location or voter service center. Sutter County also has exterior drop boxes at the Sutter Fire Station, Pleasant Grove Fire Station, Sutter Clerk-recorder and the main library on Forbes Avenue, in addition to interior drop boxes at Live Oak City Hall, Golden Pacific Bank in Live Oak, and Sierra Central Credit Union (Bogue branch).
“Voters can visit our website for a list of available locations and hours,” said Sutter County Clerk-recorder Donna Johnston.
Yuba County plans to have all of its polling sites open, aside from Camptonville, which was not big enough to accommodate COVID-19 guidelines. Hansen said those wishing to vote at the sites should bring their vote-by-mail ballot to surrender it over to poll workers, which will expedite the process.
“People can still go to their regular polling sites, but be prepared to wait in line, social distance and wear a facial covering,” Hansen said. “They may have to stand outside for some time because we are only letting up to 25 people inside at a time.”
Sutter County will have several voter service centers set up around the county – the Live Oak Community Building, Sutter Union High School, Sutter County Elections
office, Yuba-sutter Fairgrounds and East Nicolaus High School – that residents can utilize for the process. At the sites, residents can get a new ballot if they made a mistake, need to register and vote for the first time, or wish to vote their ballot in person.
“We encourage voters who wish to go to a voter service center (what used to be called a polling place) to bring their ballot with them to avoid having to wait in line to have another ballot issued to them,” Johnston said. “If a voter cannot surrender the first ballot sent to them, it will be voided in our system prior to issuing them a second ballot.”
Residents can track their ballots through the Ballottrax system that notifies them throughout the process in a variety of ways, including email or text. To sign up for the notification system, visit wheresmyballot.sos. ca.gov.
“Once the person signs up, they will get a notification telling them when their ballot has been mailed, and we get a notification as well when
they mail it back,” Hansen said. “After we’ve accepted it as a good ballot and counted it, the system will notify them.”
Ballots sent in the mail must be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be valid. Election officials will continue to count ballots collected up
until Nov. 20. Hansen said officials have a month after Election Day to certify the results. Ballots cast early will comprise the initial result tally released after 8 p.m. on Election Day.
“We encourage voters to vote and return their ballot early,” Johnston said.