Election Day is Tuesday and the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office is already looking busy.
“We are having a lot of ballots returned via the drop boxes and a lot of people coming to our office and getting ballots as well as in the North County office," said Elaina Cano, San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder.
KSBY News caught up with San Luis Obispo resident Nina Lindsey at one of those drop boxes. She shared why casting her ballot this election was important to her.
“I’m a mother of three little girls and I’m really invested in doing all I can to make sure that they have an amazing future full of opportunities and all the freedom that I had growing up,” Lindsey said.
Chris Lewi of Cambria said he’s voted by mail for years, but this time, he wanted to drop off his ballot himself.
“Voting is super important of course and I wanted to make sure that the ballot got counted...I’m a little concerned,” Lewi said. “I have nothing but confidence in the mail-in ballots but there’s other people that are trying to inject suspension into it so I just wanted to not go there.”
If you are planning to vote by mail this election, Cano suggests you take it into the post office.
“What I would recommend is that they watch the clerk there actually stamp their envelope with a postmark," Cano said.
The envelope needs to be postmarked on or before Election Day and received at the elections office within seven days of the election to be counted.
The first wave of results is expected around 8 p.m. Tuesday night and then every two hours after that. However, a new law could change that.
“Anywhere in the state, if anybody has to extend their time that means the entire state all 58 counties have to hold on to their results until we get the message from the secretary of state’s office that allows us to release results,” Cano said.
For Lewi and Lindsey, the message to anyone who hasn’t cast a ballot yet is simple.
“Vote, vote, vote,” Lewi said.
“Get out and vote and let's all participate in making our community wonderful,” Lindsey said.
Polls and drop boxes close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. You can find information on polling places and drop-off locations here.
