By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office

October 28, 2020 (San Diego) - With just over a week left to vote, the Registrar’s office reports more than 725,000 San Diego County voters have already cast their ballots in the Nov. 3 Presidential General Election. That’s 435,000 more than those returned as of this date for the November 2016 presidential election. And it’s more than a third of all 1.95 million mail ballots sent to voters this year.

As part of its COVID-19 Vote Safer San Diego campaign, the Registrar urges you to vote safer and vote early. Make voting decisions and complete your ballot from the safety of your home. Sign and date your return envelope, seal your completed ballot inside and return it to a trusted source.

Ballots received by the Registrar’s office throughout this week should be processed in time for the first release of Election Night results that are posted shortly after 8 p.m. The sooner you return your mail ballot, the sooner Registrar’s staff can process it into the count.

If you want to vote in-person that option is available, too. The Registrar urges you to avoid crowds and take advantage of early voting. You can do so:

January 31, 2013 (Washington, D.C.) – Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA) re-introduced one of her hallmark bills, the Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act (H.R. 376), which would end restrictions many states impose on a person’s ability to vote by absentee ballot.

Currently, 21 states restrict an eligible voter’s ability to vote by mail, also known as absentee.  The other states, including California, offer no-excuse absentee voting much to the great satisfaction of many voters and elections officials.  Davis’s bill would prohibit states from limiting absentee voting to only certain voters and would allow all eligible voters nationwide to vote by mail for any reason in federal elections.