Reports of California Republican Party installing unofficial ballot drop-offs in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange counties are prompting concerns in San Diego. But, county officials say there’s nothing to worry about.
“We have had no reports of any unofficial mail ballot drop-off locations being established here in San Diego,” said County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu.
There are already 1.9 million registered voters here that would be able to tip off the Registrar of Voters' office if there’s any unofficial activity, he said. Plus, there are some factors voters can look out for to know their ballot boxes are legitimate, such as going to the Registrar's website to see all the official drop-off locations.
We are staffing 125 of the 126 locations, the 126th is a dropoff box that’s open 24-7 in the Kearny Mesa area,” Vu said. “Or on every single one of the mail voter packets that we printed and issued to voters, on the back of the voter information card is the three closest ballot drop off locations. You will know those are officially established by our office.”
Already mail-in ballots have been issued to registered voters. Around 175,000 have been returned, which is over 500% more mail-in ballots issued in mid-October than mid-October 2016, Vu said.
For those who registered after the initial mailings, those voters will get their mail-in ballots soon.
Voters, however, can come to the Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa and vote now. Staff will stop the ballot from being sent out, and voters can cast their ballot early.
Voters this year can sign up online to track their ballots even before they receive it to see when it may show up in the mail, Vu said.
“Now you can track your own respective mail ballot that is being issued to you," he said. "You can go to sdvote.com and give us your phone number or your email address and track your ballot as it's getting to you through the US Postal Service.”
Voters shouldn’t be swayed by any misinformation that could be spread nationally on voting and focus on doing their part as citizens to cast their votes locally, Vu said.
