Mail voting popular

October 18, 2010
Riverside County


Vote-by-mail requests for Nov. 2 election set record in Riverside County

More than 45 percent of the county’s registered voters [as of Oct. 19, 383,890 ballots have been mailed to county voters and 27,806 already returned] have asked to vote by mail in the upcoming Nov. 2 general election, surpassing the record number of requests for the 2008 presidential election. An application to vote by mail is on the back of voters’ sample ballot booklet.

“I urge every eligible voter to cast their ballot and exercise our nation’s most important right,” Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore said.

The Registrar of Voters must receive any request for a vote-by-mail ballot by Oct. 26. Voters whose requests don’t reach the Registrar’s office by the deadline will not receive a vote-by-mail ballot and should vote at their polling place or at the Registrar’s office on Election Day.
The Registrar’s office has added temporary staff to begin processing vote-by-mail ballots so that votes can be counted and results released soon after the polls close on Election Day.

Voters may request a vote-by-mail ballot by:

1. Completing the request form on the back of their sample ballot and mailing it to the Registrar of Voters office;

2. Completing the Vote by Mail ballot application form located on the Registrar of Voters Website (www.voteinfo.net) and mailing it to:

Registrar of Voters office 2724 Gateway Drive Riverside CA 92507

3. Mailing a letter that requests a vote-by-mail ballot to the Registrar of Voters office;

4. Faxing a request to (951) 486-7272

All applications must include the voter’s name, residence address in Riverside County, the address to which the ballot is to be mailed (if different than the residence) and the voter’s signature. Voters may return completed vote-by-mail ballots through the mail or at 60 drop-off boxes located in city clerks’ offices and county libraries, at the Registrar of Voters’ 24 hour drop box located at 2724 Gateway Drive in Riverside, or at any polling place in the county on Election Day.

Voters who have not mailed their ballots by Oct. 29 should drop them off rather than using the mail to help ensure the ballots will be counted. In order to be tallied, ballots must be received in the Registrar’s office before the 8 p.m. deadline on Election Day. A postmark prior to the deadline does not guarantee a ballot will be received in time to be counted.

Though not required by law, Registrar officials will pick up ballots at main postal facilities before 8 p.m. on Election Night to collect any last-minute ballots before the deadline. Officials with the Registrar of Voters and the U.S. Postal Service recently signed an agreement detailing the steps each agency will take to ensure smooth delivery of vote- by-mail ballots leading up to, and on, Election Day. Registrar and Postal Service officials have met several times in recent weeks and will remain in frequent contact leading up to Election Day.