Ventura County to mail ballots next week. Here's how to make sure your vote gets counted
Voting kicks off next week as Ventura County's more than 500,000 registered voters start receiving ballots in the mail.
Election Day is Nov. 8, but all registered voters get a mail-in ballot, giving them nearly a month to vote in the midterm.
Haco Hoang, a political scientist from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said she thinks the nation could see higher than normal voter turnout.
Abortion rights may be one of the issues driving more people to the polls. The June Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade may mobilize a lot of younger women to be engaged regardless of the issues or offices on the ballot, Hoang said.
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Next week, the county elections division plans to start mailing ballots and early voting begins Monday at its Ventura office in the government center, 800 S. Victoria Ave.
The county switched to a Voter's Choice Act model before the June primary, requiring mail-in ballots for all registered voters and extending in-person voting days. Instead of hundreds of polling places, a smaller number of vote centers are open for additional days. Voters also can cast ballots at any center in the county, not just those closest to them.
Starting next week, voters can mail in or drop ballots off at one of 37 county election boxes.
The county also will open 10 vote centers to cast ballots in person starting Oct. 29. An additional 41 centers will open for the last four days of voting from Nov. 5-8.
Here are some common mistakes to avoid to help make sure your vote is counted.
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Where do you sign?
A lot of times people forget to sign the envelope, Assistant Clerk-Recorder Michelle Ascencion said. She won the election in June and will take over as elections chief in January when Mark Lunn's term ends. Lunn did not seek reelection.
Make sure you sign your name and add your address, she said.
If envelopes show up without a signature or if the signature doesn't match the one on file, voters will be sent a signature verification statement to correct the issue.
What are the deadlines?
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 24. But in California, people can register to vote through Election Day.
The deadline was set to give offices enough time to send a ballot, Ascencion said. After Oct. 24, eligible to voters can fill out a registration form and a ballot at the same time. The conditional voter's ballot comes back to the elections office in a different envelope, allowing staff to review the information to make sure the person is eligible to vote.
Vote-by-mail ballots have to be dropped off by Election Day or mailed in time to be postmarked by Nov. 8.
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How to track your ballot
Voters can track their ballot at california.ballottrax.net/voter to see when it is mailed, received and counted.
What if you make a mistake?
People can call the elections office at 805-654-2664 to get a ballot reissued before it is cast.
Often, they can fix it themselves.
A voter can cross out the incorrect answer and fill in another bubble. As long as voters can make their intention clear, the ballot can be accepted.
For more information about the election, visit venturavote.org.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Election 2022: Nearly a month of voting kicks off with early ballots
