Voter turnout expected to be high

Glenn County election officials predict a 75 percent voter turnout for Tuesday's general election.

This is being fueled, in part, by the increase in vote-by-mail ballots coming into the office early.

Assistant Clerk-Recorder Susan Alves said Thursday her office has had 47 percent of ballots returned so far.

"I am thinking the turnout will be as good as the November '08 election," Alves said, when 80 percent of county voters came out to vote.

She added, it is good to see the amount of absentee ballots that have come back early four more mail days to go as of Thursday.

Glenn County issued 8,556 absentee or vote-by-mail ballots as of Thursday, after receiving more than 500 requests from voters who are not permanent vote-by-mail or mail precinct residents, Alves said.

Initially, 8,000 ballots were sent to permanent absentee voters and those in the vote-by-mail precincts, she said.

The county has 12,500 voters registered.

Statewide, 50 percent of all voters had been issued mail-in ballots, and as of early Thursday, nearly 30 percent had been returned, according to numbers being tracked by the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials.

Alves said, if voters have not mailed in the ballots, they can take them to a polling place on Tuesday, or bring it to the elections office in Willows.

Ballots that arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Day cannot be counted, Alves said.

Most ballots will be counted Tuesday night — especially in precincts with close races, she said. Otherwise, the standard procedure is to finish the count the next day.

"We count all the ballots unless we get them too late," she said.

Usually, elections staff picks up absentee ballots turned in at polling places by 2 p.m. on Election Day, Alves added, and those are counted that evening.

Ballots turned in later in the afternoon or that night normally are not counted until the following day, she said.

Alves expects about 1,000 absentee ballots to be turned in Tuesday at the polling places, she said

She said counting mailed ballots is more time consuming than poll ballots because workers must compare the signatures on the envelope to those on the registration application.

Those who did not receive their ballot also may call the elections office, Alves said.

"We will issue a replacement ballot for those who did not receive it in the mail," she said.

Glenn County has 24 vote-by-mail precincts — primarily in outlying communities like Elk Creek and other rural locations.

It also has 10 polling places in Orland, Willows and Hamilton City.

Four of the precincts are located in one of Glenn County Fairgrounds buildings, one at the Orland Fire Hall, one at the Evangelical Free Church in Hamilton City and the Willows precincts are the Muncipal Center, Memorial Hall and Saint Monica's Catholic Church Parish Hall.

Alves added on election night the department will post result updates to the website as the counts are made, so people may view it online.