Californians go to the polls five weeks from tomorrow, but in some counties there won’t be any polls.
It’s probably the biggest change to elections many Californians have seen in a lifetime. In about a quarter of California’s counties, including Butte and Nevada, there’ll be no lines out the door, no kindly volunteers confirming precincts and signatures, in fact no polling places at all.
In the rest of California, including much of the Northstate, voting proceeds as usual.
The biggest change, under the new system?
“This election, everyone will receive their ballot in the mail.” said Butte County Clerk Candace Grubbs.
Aimed primarily at increasing turnout by removing inconvenience, Grubbs said the theory tracks trends she’s noticed locally.
“The percentage of vote-by-mail voters, they vote at a higher percentage than polling place voters.” Grubbs explained.
This year that might not hold true. The Camp Fire uprooted many voters, some may have failed to update their addresses.
The county’s 45 polling places will be replaced by a small number of Vote Centers where people can ask questions, register, or drop off completed ballots if they don’t wish to mail them.
In Butte County, three centers will open ten days prior to the election, and ten more will open February 29th, Grubbs said.
Ballots will start being mailed out next week.
Another important change: those eligible will be permitted to register on Election Day at a vote center and cast a provisional ballot.