In 2016, the California Voter’s Choice Act changed the practice around vote-by-mail ballots. Instead of having to opt-in to receive them, vote-by-mail ballots were instead sent to every registered voter. The act also expanded early in-person voting, and allowed greater flexibility in when, where, and how voters could return these ballots.
This year’s vote-by-mail ballots were sent to registered voters across the state in February ahead of the primary election on March 5.
In Butte County, those ballots can be returned in a few ways — voters can mail the envelopes back to the registrar of voters, or drop them off at voter assistance center or in secure ballot drop-boxes. All ballots returned by mail need to be postmarked by election day. There are currently three voter assistance centers accepting ballots, with more to open Saturday ahead of the election.
Keaton Denlay, Butte County’s clerk-recorder and registrar of voters, said the majority of people in the county use their vote-by-mail ballots to cast their vote.
“It’s over 98% of people,” Denlay said.
One of the advantages of using vote-by-mail ballots, Denlay said, is they have tracking notifications. This allows voters to see where their ballot is in the tallying process. Vote-by-mail ballots also have signature verification to confirm the voters’ identity.
Denlay added that voters who return their vote-by-mail ballots in person have the same security protections as those who mail their ballots.
“[Some] people [feel] the civic duty to vote in person. They want that pageantry,” Denlay said. “They can still do that and have all the benefits of using a vote-by-mail ballot in person … They can get the tracking and the signature verification and all the security that comes with vote-by-mail [ballots].”
The county is already counting the ballots it has received so far. It will begin posting preliminary results after polls close on election night. It then has 30 days to finalize its results and report them to the secretary of state. But Denlay said it usually only takes about two and a half weeks. The secretary of state will then certify the results 38 days after the election.
Some of the 30-day period after polls close is taken up by an audit, which is a mandatory manual count of 1% of the ballots received. The registrar of voters hires trained community members to conduct the manual tally.
“It takes days,” Denlay said.
Butte is a “central count” county, meaning that all the ballots are counted in the same place — the Butte County Hall of Records. Volunteers from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office transport the ballots to the Hall of Records from voting locations across the county. There, vote-by-mail ballots are separated from their envelopes, verified and counted.
If a voter made a mistake on their ballot or needs a replacement, Denlay said replacement ballots are available at any of the voter assistance centers in the county. The deadline to have a replacement ballot sent by mail was Feb. 27.
Denlay also wanted to dispel any fears voters might have about vote-by-mail ballots not being secure.
“Maybe they're worried their mail is going to get stolen, or their mailbox is going to get broken into,” Denlay said. “Use one of our secure ballot drop boxes! Drop it off in person, if that's a concern for you. You certainly have the options.”
