Starting this week on Monday, Oct. 7, voters began to cast ballots for the Nov. 5 general election—including local, regional, state and national candidates and measures.
Those voters will be using the Vote-By-Mail ballot system, whose ballots started going out to registered voters in Sonoma County on Oct. 7. Deva Marie Proto, the county’s Registrar of Voters, said the ballots are expected to take between three and 10 days to arrive. They will also include statements in favor of and against all measures, including local Measure O and county Measure J among others.
Anyone who prefers not to wait to receive their ballot in the mail may instead pick up a Vote-by-Mail ballot or vote in person at the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Office at 435 Fiscal Drive in Santa Rosa.
For those who are homebound, traveling or otherwise unable to do so, any voter can also authorize somebody else to pick up a Vote-by-Mail ballot for them by filling out an Application to Provide Vote-by-Mail Ballot to Representative, available at the county registrar’s office.
All this emphasis on the vote-by-mail alternative springs from a 2022 state law that gives voters more flexibility regarding when, where and how to cast their ballots. Counties conducting elections under this model must provide at least one official Ballot Drop Box per 15,000 registered voters starting 28 days before Nov. 5, at least one Vote Center per 50,000 registered voters starting no later than 10 days before Election Day, and one per 10,000 registered voters starting no later than three days before the election.
Again, as occurred in 2022, voters will cast their ballots at these vote centers instead of neighborhood polling places. In Healdsburg, the vote center will again be at the Community Center, 1557 Healdsburg Ave. It will open for a 10-day period from Oct. 26 though Nov. 5. An official drop box for ballots is again available at Healdsburg City Hall, 401 Grove St., and is receiving ballots now.
In Geyserville, the Geyserville Fire Station at 20975 Geyserville Ave. will be open from Nov. 2 through Nov. 5. Cloverdale’s vote center will be open the same days, at the Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Building, 205 W. First St. Windsor’s Council Chambers at 9291 Old Redwood Hwy., Room 400, will also be open for voting Nov. 2-5. Hours for all the voting centers will be from 9am to 5pm, including Saturdays and Sundays.
The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters office is located at 435 Fiscal Drive in Santa Rosa and is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 8am to 5pm, and Wednesday from 8am to 4pm (excluding county holidays).
For more information, please visit SoCoVotes.com.
