As the Nov. 3 election approaches, many students may have questions, whether about the voting process or how ballots are counted. Here are some answers.
READ MORE: What’s on the Nov. 3 ballot?
What does voting as a student look like?
According to Erin Clausen, a public information specialist for the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, students can choose to be registered in their hometown or re-register to vote in the San Luis Obispo County election. To re-register, voters must go to the Elections Office by Oct. 19 or to a polling place on Nov. 3.Â
If a student’s ballot was sent to their hometown, they can request the residents of their home address forward their ballot to their current address in a larger envelope.
Students can also contact their home county’s election office and ask to vote Remote Accessible Vote-by-Mail. The Elections Office will send a link to the voter’s email to download a printable version of their ballot, according to Clausen.
In future election years, voters can update their mailing addresses at the Elections Office to have it sent to their San Luis Obispo address instead of their hometown address. However, ballots most likely will not come in time for this election season.
Can Cal Poly students vote in local elections?
Students who live on campus will not be able to vote in local races such as city council or mayor because Cal Poly is not included within the city’s borders. Students who live off campus in San Luis Obispo can vote in local races, according to a fact sheet for Cal Poly and Cuesta students.
All voters, regardless of residency, can vote for statewide offices, including governor and state senators, and on propositions.
Who is able to register to vote?
In order to register to vote, someone must be:
- A U.S. citizenÂ
- 18 years or olderÂ
- Not be currently serving a prison term or federal prison term for a felony
If someone is unsure if they are registered, they may check the secretary of state’s website. If a voter changes their name, party affiliation or address they must re-register.
When is the last day to register to vote in the general election?
The last day to register to vote was Oct. 19.
Unregistered voters can still vote provisionally by stopping by the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office on Nov. 3Â in person or going to a polling place. Voting provisionally means completing voter registration on site at the polls or in the Elections Office.
If voting provisionally, voters will be asked to show a California driver’s license or an ID with the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Who gets a mail-in-ballot?
Anyone who is a registered voter in the state of California receives a mail-in-ballot.
Where can voters drop off their ballots or vote on campus?
Voters can drop off ballots at the University Union second floor.
To register and vote in person, voters can go to the Performing Arts Center.
Where happens to my ballot after I drop it off?
Mail-in ballots are distributed to registered voters in the county 29 days before the election. Any ballots that cannot be delivered are returned to the Elections Office. Residents who do not receive their ballots can request a replacement, according to the secretary of life cycle of a ballot voting sheet.
Once voters fill out their ballot, they can drop their ballots off at official drop boxes or voting locations to be delivered to the Elections Office. The ballots dropped off are transported by a two-person team with a set procedure of ballot handling and strict tracking. Rules include wearing an identification badge, swearing an oath and securing containers of ballots.
Ballots are then stored in secured locations at the Elections Office. Each ballot is checked for signature verification.Â
If election staff cannot verify a signature or it does not match the voter’s signature, the voter will be contacted. A comparison is conducted for any returned ballot to ensure it matches other signatures in a voter’s registration file according to the secretary of state website. Once the signatures are verified on their ballot, the ballot will be removed from its envelope, according to the secretary of the state’s life cycle of a ballot voting sheet.
Ballots are inspected for any damage or issues that could prevent it from scanning. Any ballots that cannot be scanned will be reprinted once it is verified to ensure that vote is counted, according to the secretary of state’s website.
Votes are counted by batches of 200 ballots by using vote tabulation scanners, according to Clausen. Once a vote is counted, the ballots are put away in tamper-proof seals and stored in a secured room with limited physical access and no internet access, according to the San Luis Obispo elections ballot fact sheet.
To ensure accuracy for voting results, reviews and tests are conducted on a randomly selected group of ballots before an election to make sure they produce the same results consistently, according to the San Luis Obispo elections ballot fact sheet.