This election season, Humboldt County has adopted the Voters Choice Act– this act allows more ways and more days to vote.
“They can come and vote in person if they prefer that,” said Juan Pablo Cervantes, the Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters. “They can vote their vote by mail ballot, they can drop off their vote by mail ballot at any dropbox or vote center. We also have something called remote access vote by mail, which they can access online if they’re displaced and they need access to a ballot quickly and they’d still like to manage to mail it in.”
Open voting centers are Arcata High School, College of the Redwoods, the Jefferson Community Center, Gene Lucas Community Center, McKinleyville Middle School, and Prasch Hall. These centers are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Election Day, there will be three additional voting centers, those are the Hoopa Neighborhood Facility, the Humboldt County Fairgrounds and the Redwood Playhouse. On Election Day, all voting centers will be open earlier starting at 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you mail in your ballot on Election Day it will still count as long as your ballot was postmarked.
“Every eligible vote gets counted,” Cervantes said. “We don’t really look at results until the very, very end when we certify and that’s also for provisional ballots.”
The Humboldt County Elections and Voter Registration office will begin posting results at 8:30 p.m. on Election Day. They will post a report every hour while they continue to count votes. People will see a final report until they are ready to certify and that will happen before April 4.
“Every election is a big deal, democracy only works when we participate in it,” Cervantes said. “But you see the most immediate effect at the local level. You’re voting for people you know in your community. You’re voting for things that will have an immediate impact on you.”
People no longer have to vote at a center that is closest to their residency. If you are registered to vote in Humboldt County, you can vote at any voting center. This is another aspect of the Voter’s Choice Act.
People can pick up their ballot tomorrow and on Tuesday you must vote in-person or drop off your ballot. People can bring their voter information guide for help while voting or you can use your phone. However, you can not use your phone to take pictures of what you’re voting for or of other people voting. Voting polls close on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
