Election Day is now a week away, and hundreds of thousands of Central and South Coast residents have not only made up their minds, but they’ve already voted.
Some voted by mail. Others used secure ballot boxes in place throughout the region. And, someearly in-person voting is even taking place in the region.
Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters Mark Lunn says more than 500,000 people are registed to vote in the county, and over 180,000 have already cast and returned their ballots.
Santa Barbara County’s Clerk, Recorder, Assessor and Registrar of Voters Joe Holland says they are also seeing impressive numbers, with more than 235,000 registered voters so far in the county, and 96,000 cast ballots received.
Both Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties have secure ballot dropoff boxes you can find through the county elections division websites.
Holland says if you are voting by mail, or using a dropoff box, there’s something you need to double check before you get it on the way. Did you sign it? He says they've already received hundreds of unsigned ballots, and are reaching out to voters to get them properly signed.
Early in-person voting is underway this week in both counties. In Ventura County, you can already vote at the County Elections office. Then, in both Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, a number of polling places will be open Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and of course on Election Day.
As for the concern that’s received so much media attention, ballot tampering? Lunn says it California at least, it’s a non-issue. He says the state has a number of safeguards in place,
If you are looking for the location of official ballot dropoff boxes in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, or other information, you can find it at the county websites: the Ventura County Elections Division, and the Santa Barbara County Elections Division.
