Five new voting centers will open Saturday for residents looking to cast their ballots in-person in the 80th Assembly District Special Primary Election.
The new vote centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 4, then with expanded hours on Election Day, April 5.
The new locations are:
— Southwestern Community College Lot A, Bldg. 18A-Room 214. 900 Otay Lake Road, Chula Vista;
— Camacho Recreation Center gym, 1810 East 22nd St., National City;
— Southcrest Recreation Center, Meeting Room 1, 4149 Newton Ave., San Diego;
— Montgomery High School, library. 3250 Palm Ave., San Diego;
— Colonel Irving Salomon Community Center, game room.,179 Diza Road, San Diego.
Early voting is also already underway at the registrar's office in Kearny Mesa, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, the registrar's office and some ballot box drop locations will be closed Thursday in observance of Cesar Chavez Day.
Four additional voting centers are slated to open on Election Day, and voting hours will change from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
RELATED: Three candidates battle for South Bay in Assembly District 80 special election
Only those who live in the state's 80th Assembly District under the 2011 district boundaries can vote in the election — which seeks to fill Former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez's seat for the remainder of the current term ending in December. Even though recent redistricting changed Assembly district borders, the boundaries used when the term began will determine who can vote to fill the seat to complete Gonzalez's term.
The district covers portions of southern San Diego County and includes parts of the cities of Chula Vista, National City and San Diego. If you're not sure whether you were in the 2011 district boundary, you can look it up at sdvote.com.
The candidates for the district are two Democrats — David Alvarez and Georgette Gomez — and Republican Lincoln Pickard.
Gonzalez resigned in January to take a leadership position at the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. She represented the district for eight years.
This will be the first special election conducted under the Voter's Choice Act. Under the act, every active registered voter — more than 250,000 in the district — has automatically received a ballot in the mail.
Eligible voters can vote from home and return ballots through the mail — no postage needed — or to one of the registrar's official ballot drop- box locations, or at any vote center in the district.
