ABORTION RIGHTS, CONTROL OF CONGRESS ON BALLOT AS ELECTION DAWNS IN SAN DIEGO

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo: Pollworker, courtesy of the San Diego County Registrar of Voters

November 8, 2022 (San Diego) -- Tuesday is the final day to cast your ballot in the midterm General Election. Voters can do so at any one of 218 vote centers or 141 official ballot drop box locations around San Diego County.

All will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Any voter who is in line at a vote center or an official ballot drop box location at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. However, no one can join the line after the 8 p.m. deadline.

Times of San Diego's Voter Guide to San Diego County Races and Ballot Measures in Nov. 8 General Election

Key issues and races include Proposition 1 to enshrine reproductive rights in the California constitution following the the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, control of Congress, a new county Sheriff and contests for the San Diego City Council and Chula Vista Mayor.

Fox News and other conservative media outlets are predicting a “red wave” of Republican victories, but President Biden is optimistic about the Democratic Party’s prospects.

“We’re going to win this time around,” he said during a visit to San Diego last week, predicting his party would win a seat in the Senate and maintain control of the House of Representatives.

San Diego residents may not know the final results of close races on Tuesday night.

The first election night results will come in shortly after 8 p.m. This includes mail ballots received before Election Day and vote center ballots from early voting between Oct. 29 and Nov. 7.

After the first report, election night updates will include vote center ballots cast on Election Day only. There will be no more updates to mail ballots on election night.

More than 480,000 voters in San Diego County had already returned their mail ballots as of 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the county registrar’s office.

More than 1.9 million mail ballots were sent to every registered voter in the county. The registrar predicts a 60% to 65% county turnout for Tuesday’s election.

Some political observers have expressed concerns about violence at the polls amid the partisan atmosphere, but federal officials said there are no credible threats.

“We see no specific or credible threat to disrupt election infrastructure,” an official told Reuters during a scheduled briefing just as Election Day was beginning.

If you’re not registered to vote in San Diego County and want to participate in the election, you may visit any vote center to conditionally register and vote provisionally through Election Day.

Once the voter registration is processed and the Registrar’s office confirms the voter did not vote elsewhere in the state, the voter registration becomes active, and the provisional ballot is counted.