With about 12 hours to go before the polls open in California, more than 2.7 million Bay Area voters had already cast ballots.
Statewide, more than 11.2 million of California’s more than 21 million registered voters had already voted. Nationwide, the number was approaching 100 million by Monday evening — almost 70% of the 136.5 million people who voted in 2016.
California polls officially open at 7 a.m. Nov. 3.
With this year’s COVID-19 pandemic making in-person voting more problematic than in other years, California sent mail-in ballots to all its registered voters at least 29 days before the Nov. 3 election.
Officials say voters responded to calls for early voting amid speculation it could take days or even weeks beyond Election Day to finalize results for some races.
By Monday morning, Santa Clara County had received 612,672 ballots, according to Evelyn Mendez, the county’s public and legislative affairs manager.
Alameda County checked in with about 581,445 votes the day before Election Day, which is 60.2% of its registered voters, said county registrar Tim Dupuis.
Contra Costa County wasn’t far behind its neighboring county.
“I expect we will have more than 420,000 ballots in our possession today, which represents a 60 percent turnout the day before the election,” said Scott Konopasek, the county’s assistant registrar of voters.
“In S.F., we’ve received 322,000 ballots, which represents a turnout of 62 percent,” said John Arntz, the director of San Francisco’s Department of Elections.
San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry said his office received 289,146 ballots.
Sonoma County processed more than 203,000 ballots by Nov. 2, which accounts for 67 percent of its registered votes, said Deva Marie Proto, the Sonoma County registrar of voters.
Marin County reported more than 130,000 of its 175,220 registered voters had sent in votes by Nov. 2, according to Public Information Specialist Brent Ainsworth.
Solano County reported receiving 119,986 ballots by the end of the day Oct. 30 — a 46.2 percent turnout, according to John Gardner, Solano’s assistant registrar of voters.
Napa County received 54,003 votes by 4 p.m. Nov. 2, said John Tuteur, the county’s registrar of voters. He said that’s a 63.6% turnout, compared to 49% at the same time in 2016.
“If this trend continues, we could approach a 90 percent final turnout, which would be the highest turnout in the past 60 years,” Tuteur said.
Ballots can still be returned in person at a polling place or the county elections office; or to a designated drop box, the locations of which are specified by each county. Ballots must be in by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3.
Ballots already mailed must be postmarked by Election Day, and they must be received by the county elections office no later than 17 days after Election Day.
Once sent, ballots can be tracked at https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/.
Anyone who is unsure about their eligibility can go to https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/who-can-vote-california. Voters can still register for most elections by visiting their county elections office, a vote center or their polling place.
Californians can find answers to most voting questions here.
The voting process varies from county to county. Those needing to contact their county elections office, but aren’t sure how can find the information here.
To keep up with the latest developments and for answers to many election questions, use this website’s Voter Information Hub as a resource guide and contact us if you have feedback or questions.