{"id":968,"date":"2026-06-01T18:41:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=968"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:41:59","slug":"too-late-to-mail-your-ballot-voters-are-being-urged-to-send-them-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=968","title":{"rendered":"Too late to mail your ballot? Voters are being urged to send them early"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Kaitlyn Schallhorn | Orange County Register<\/strong><\/p>\n

In California, as long as a voter\u2019s ballot is postmarked on or before Election Day \u2014 and received by the county elections office within a week of Election Day \u2014 it still counts.<\/p>\n

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But election officials are encouraging voters who wish to drop their ballots in the mail to do so sooner rather than later because of\u00a0changes to how the U.S. Postal Service adds postmarks, which show the location and date.<\/p>\n

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Late last year, the Postal Service adopted new rules to \u201cmodernize (its) transportation network and optimize (its) transportation operations.\u201d That means, the Postal Service said, that it will become more common that mail will not arrive at processing facilities, where they receive postmarks, on the same day they were accepted.<\/p>\n

Voters who drop their ballots off at the post office on Tuesday, June 2, Election Day, may not get a postmark that very day. If that\u2019s the case, ballots with later postmarks would not be counted.<\/p>\n

For those who do mail their ballots, the California secretary of state\u2019s office and the Postal Service recommend voters ask for a manual postmark from an employee at the Post Office. Manual postmarks are free of charge,\u00a0the Postal Service noted.<\/p>\n

Further, Secretary of State Shirley Weber has suggested voters mail their ballots in advance of June 2.<\/p>\n

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In response to concerns about how the new rules would impact mailed ballots, the Postal Service noted it is not involved in administering elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Proposed Rule contains information of potential relevance to election officials and to citizens who choose to vote by mail, the Postal Service does not administer elections, establish the rules or deadlines that govern elections, or determine whether or how election jurisdictions utilize the mail or incorporate our postmark into their rules,\u201d the federal agency said on its website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Postal Service also does not advocate for or against any particular voting practices (including mail-in voting). Instead, the Postal Service collects, processes, transports, and delivers mail and packages that are mailable under federal law. As part of that role, we deliver the nation\u2019s Election Mail when public policy makers and election officials choose to use the mail as a part of their election system and when citizens choose to utilize our services to participate in an election.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u00a0study from Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan research institution, found 25% of ZIP codes in the country are considered \u201clow-risk\u201d for delayed postmarking, while nearly 22% are considered \u201chigh-risk\u201d for delayed processing. California, the study found, has very few high-risk ZIP codes.<\/p>\n

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California voters, though, do have multiple ways to cast a ballot other than mailing it.<\/p>\n

Voters can place their ballot in drop boxes or at their county elections office.<\/p>\n

Here are a few locations in East and South Bay cities, for a complete list check Alameda County, Contra Costa County and Santa Clara County websites.<\/p>\n

Alameda voters can find ballot drop boxes at City Hall, College of Alameda and at 3221 Mecartney Road on Bay Farm Island. Oakland voters can find drop boxes at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, Merrit College and Cesar E. Chavez Library on Fruitvale. San Leandro voters will find a ballot drop box at San Leandro Civic Center, 835 E. 14th St., Manor Branch Library on Manor Blvd. and San Leandro and Fairmont hospitals.<\/p>\n

In San Jose, voters can find ballot drop boxes at most libraries and schools, as well as the Computer History Museum, San Jose City Hall and SAP Center. In Santa Clara County, Morgan Hill City Hall, Milpitas City Hall, Los Altos Hills Town Hall, Palo Alto City Hall and Los Gatos City Hall all have drop boxes. Several VTA stations also have drop boxes.<\/p>\n

In Walnut Creek, there are two at City Hall and one at the Ygnacio Valley Library. In Concord there is one at City Hall and in Antioch the City Hall and library both have them. In San Ramon the City Hall and the San Ramon Community Center both offer ballot drop boxes.<\/p>\n

Find the nearest early voting spot by visiting the California secretary of state\u2019s website,\u00a0caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov.<\/p>\n

Voters can also track their ballot with the California secretary of state\u2019s \u201cWhere\u2019s My Ballot\u201d tool. Found at\u00a0california.ballottrax.net, voters input their name, date of birth and ZIP code to register for the service. It will relay the status of the ballot, and voters can sign up to receive information about its process via email, text message or call.<\/p>\n

California law also allows voters to take up to two hours off work, without a loss of pay, to vote if they would be unable to do so during non-work hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia makes voting accessible for eligible voters,\u201d Weber said. \u201cNo matter how busy your work schedule is, you have the right as a voter to cast your ballot on June 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secretary of State recommends voters mail their ballots in advance of June 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nToo late to mail your ballot? Voters are being urged to send them early - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=968\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Too late to mail your ballot? 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