With the June 2 primary election approaching, Santa Barbara County election officials are urging voters not to wait until the last minute to return their ballots, warning that timing and postmarks are critical to ensuring votes are counted.
Martin Cobos, chief deputy registrar of voters with the Santa Barbara County Elections Office, said voters still have time, but not much.
Cobos said the county will begin checking ballot drop boxes more frequently as Election Day nears and is encouraging voters who plan to vote by mail to send ballots at least five to seven days in advance.
“If you wait until the absolute last minute and drop your ballot into a mailbox, you should go into the post office and have the clerk stamp your ballot so that it’s postmarked on Election Day,” Cobos said. “If it’s not postmarked on Election Day, we can’t count your vote.”
Cobos said more than 20,000 ballots have already been returned to the elections office. He said staff are using new scanning technology to track ballots more efficiently as they arrive.
“We’ve introduced some scanning technology so that we can quickly see when equipment is returned to us, when we have the ballots in-house so we can process them,” he said.
Election results from mail-in ballots will not be released until shortly after polls close.
“If you go to our website there is a tool, it’s called BallotTrax, and through the state of California, it will track your ballot,” Cobos said. “It will track when it gets to the elections division, when your ballot is counted, and the status of your ballot.”
Voter Sam Wallop said voting by mail remains the most convenient option.
“I’m voting by mail, it’s quicker,” Wallop said.
