Approximately 31,000 VBM ballots were dropped off for delivery
PASO ROBLES — The initial mailing of Vote by Mail (VBM) ballots was dropped at the United State Postal Service Goleta Distribution Center on Monday, March 20. Voters will begin receiving their ballots in the coming days. Approximately 31,000 VBM ballots were dropped off for delivery. Subsequent mailings of VBM ballots will begin next week for newly registered voters in the district or voters that have updated their voter registration information after the initial mailing.
Voters will find enclosed in their VBM ballot packet their official ballot, a voter information guide containing the candidate statements, and a voting instruction page containing an “I Voted” sticker.
Voters may vote and return their ballots as soon as they receive them, no waiting necessary. However, voters are reminded to be sure that their ballot envelopes are “Signed and Sealed, then Delivered.” Voters can return their voted VBM ballots from now through Election Day via the mail in the provided postage-paid envelope, in any official VBM ballot drop box, or at one of the two County Election Offices located in Atascadero and San Luis Obispo. On Election Day, in addition to those previous options, voters can return their voted VBM ballot at any polling place. Locations for official drop boxes and polling places are listed on the County Elections website slovote.com.
Voters can also track their ballots by signing up for a free service (BallotTrax) the Secretary of State provides to voters to receive notifications via text, email, or phone message regarding the tracking of the ballot envelope, (not the voter’s vote). Voters can sign up at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov; BallotTrax is designed to track VBM ballots through the postal stream and proactively push ballot status notifications to voters. By integrating with the state and county election offices, print vendor, and the USPS, BallotTrax knows when a ballot has been mailed to a voter, returned from a voter, received by the election office, and accepted for counting by the election office. Once the county receives the ballot, voters are asked to please be patient as there may be hundreds or thousands of ballots each day, and newly received ballots may not be processed immediately. Additional FAQs can be found at Where’s My Ballot — Troubleshooting (ca.gov).
Voters are encouraged to visit the clerk-recorder’s website for updates regarding the election at slovote.com. For any questions, please contact the elections office at elections@co.slo.ca.us or (805) 781-5228.
