Mail ballots

Voters urged to drop off ballots, not use the mail, after Friday

In order to ensure that ballots reach elections officials in time to be counted on Election Day, voters should not return their ballots by mail after Friday (Oct. 29).

After Friday, voters are encouraged to return their ballots to drop-off boxes in city clerks’ offices and county libraries through Monday (Nov. 1) or at any polling place in the county on Election Day (Nov. 2). A link to the location of the drop-off boxes is available on the Registrar of Voters website, http://www.voteinfo.net/

Ballots also can be deposited in the 24-hour drop box outside the front entrance to Registrar of Voters office at 2724 Gateway Drive in Riverside.

Ballots must reach the registrar by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. Ballots with postmarks before the deadline are not accepted and cannot be counted if they reach the registrar’s office after the 8 p.m. deadline on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday (Oct. 27), more than 405,000 vote-by-mail ballots have been sent to voters and almost 143,148 (slightly more than one-third of requested mail ballots and almost one-sixth of total county registered voters) had been returned. Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore on Thursday encouraged every eligible voter to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s general election.