Sonoma County El Registro De Votantes Solicita La Opinión Del Público En Los Centros De Votación

Press release from the Sonoma County Government:

August 14, 2020

En español

Santa Rosa, CA - August 14, 2020 - The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters' Office solicits public input on the proposed in-person polling places, in addition to secure ballot boxes, for the General Election on 3 of November. Comments will be accepted until Monday, August 24. A map of the proposed location of the centers, as well as other information, can be found on the Registrar of Voters website .

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the November elections will be conducted differently from the previous elections in Sonoma County. All registered active voters will receive a mail-in ballot in October. Voters will then have the option of mailing their ballots postage paid, depositing their ballots in one of the many secure polls throughout the County, returning their ballots to any polling place in person, or voting in person.

There will be a minimum of 30 in-person voting stations located throughout the County. They will be open for voting from Saturday, October 31 through Election Day on Tuesday, November 3. Voting in person will be available for a minimum of eight hours a day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and from 7 am to 8 pm on Election Day. Also beginning in early October, a minimum of 20 secure voting boxes will be available to the public to return ballots.

The recently passed legislation, Senate Bill 423, gives counties two options for in-person voting centers. The first option is to offer the same in-person polling locations as for the March primaries. This was not feasible in Sonoma County, as previous elections relied heavily on schools and senior facilities as voting centers. The Sonoma County Office of Education informed the Voter Registrar's Office that schools may not be available to vote in November due to security concerns and a desire to reserve school campuses for students and teachers only. Also,

Instead, Sonoma County is pursuing the second option, which is to have at least one polling station for every 10,000 voters and a secure ballot box for every 15,000 voters.

In selecting the location of these positions, the Voter Register considered voting and demographic data, including population concentrations, historically low use of vote-by-mail, households with fewer vehicle owners, and communities with linguistic minorities. These data are given on the proposed polling station map, along with a modeled map that combines all the criteria considered.

The Voter Registration Office also focused on creating larger polling places in areas that indicate the greatest need. These larger facilities will provide voters and election staff with space for social distancing and protective precautions. Smaller locations were secured, in areas that could minimize distances and drive duration. Many areas of need will not have a proposed polling place due to a lack of adequate or available facilities.

Proposed locations of secure polls and in-person voting centers are not final. The Electoral Registry welcomes comments, opinions and suggestions on these proposed sites and sincerely thanks the establishments and organizations that are willing to offer themselves as polling places and contribute to democracy.

The public is asked to register to vote or update their information at RegisterToVote.ca.gov, check their voter status at VoterStatus.ca.gov , and register to find their ballot at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.

This press release was produced by the Sonoma County Government . The views expressed here are the author's own.