With less than a month remaining until the Nov. 5 general election, Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Donna Linder is speaking to anybody who will listen.
“It’s that time of year when we’re doing trainings and speaking,” said Linder, who was first elected in 2018. “I’ve spoken to the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis, the other night I spoke to the Latino Chamber of Commerce … anybody who’s interested in hearing what we do during elections. We want to help people understand what we do, and the care we take in processing ballots. That’s my goal, and I’ll talk to any group that will have me.”
Linder pointed out that mail-in ballots were sent to voters on Monday and should be arriving in mailboxes this week — depending on the speed of the U.S. Postal Service.
Already, registered voters should have received a sample ballot/voter information guide from Stanislaus County, and the thicker 144-page voter information guide from the California Secretary of State’s office.
It’s up to you now to read these materials to help make informed choices before marking your ballot.
Finally, when it’s time to return your completed ballot, you have a host of options thanks to Linder and her team at the county elections office.
You can simply put your completed ballot in the mailbox and your postal carrier will deliver it to the elections office — no stamp is necessary. Or, you can put it in any mailbox, anywhere, on or before Nov. 5.
“If you drop it in a mailbox on Election Day, make sure to check the mailbox pickup times,” cautioned Linder. “If you drop it in after the last scheduled pickup, it won’t get postmarked in time.”
For voters who are wary of using the postal service, they can deliver their ballot in person to the drop-box located in the lobby of the elections office — 1021 I St., Modesto — or at any of the drop-boxes or voting center located throughout the county.
And for those voters who rather walk in and fill out their ballot the old-fashioned way, that’s still an option.
However, unlike years past when voters were directed to one specific polling place located within their precinct, voters now are eligible to cast their ballots (or return a completed ballot) to any voting center in the county. So, a voter could vote in a voting center close to their house, or one in Modesto or in Patterson or in Oakdale — and they can even do it before Election Day (voting centers begin opening as early as Oct. 26).
Don’t forget to sign your ballot envelope before dropping them in a mailbox, drop-box or at a voting center.
And remember to check pickup times to ensure your ballot will be collected in time.
Here’s a partial list of drop-box and voting center locations:
INDOOR DROP-BOX LOCATIONS (date and times in parenthesis; service began Monday):
• Ceres City Hall, 2220 Magnolia Street, Ceres (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
• Save Mart, 2920 E. Whitmore Ave., Ceres (Monday-Thursday 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Fridays through Sundays, 6 a.m. to 12 midnight)
• Stanislaus Veterans Center, 3500 Coffee Rd., Suite 15 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Election Day, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Hughson City Hall, 7018 Pine St. (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
• Modesto Junior College (Student Center), 435 College Ave. (Monday-Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
• Denair Library, 4801 Kersey Rd. (Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
• Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Office, 1021 I St., Modesto (the Registrar of Voters Office has an indoor and 24-hour outdoor drop-box)
OUTDOOR DROP-BOX LOCATIONS (open 24 hours a day; close at 8 p.m. on Election Day; service begins Monday):
• California State University Stanislaus, 1 University Cir., Turlock
• Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Office, 1021 I St., Modesto (the Registrar of Voters Office has an indoor and 24-hour outdoor drop-box)
CURBSIDE DROP-OFF LOCATIONS (open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5):
• Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto
• Stanislaus Culinary Arts Institute, 1040 Wakefield Dr., Oakdale
• California State University Stanislaus, 1 University Cir., Turlock (before Nov. 4, the CSUS curbside drop-off will be an unmanned drop-box)
VOTE CENTERS (the following will begin service on Oct. 26, including weekends and holidays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day):
• United Samaritans Foundation Community Center, 2413 Third St., Hughson
• Stanislaus Veterans Center, 3500 Coffee Rd. Suite15, Room 114/115, Modesto.
• L.J. Newman Memorial Building, 649 Orestimba Rd., Newman
(the following will begin service on Nov. 2, including weekends, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day):
• Ceres American Legion Memorial Building, 2609 Lawrence Street, Ceres
• Hanline Elementary School, 4295 Central Avenue, Ceres
• Keyes Community Center, 5506 Jennie Ave.
• Modesto City-County Airport, 617 Airport Way, Departures Terminal, Modesto
• Apostolic Jubilee Center, 821 Lassen Ave., south Modesto
• Mancini Hall Senior Center, 718 Tuolumne Blvd., Modesto
• Turlock Public Library, 550 N. Minaret Ave., (Hilmar Cheese Co. Community Room)
• Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Harvest Hall, Room D/E, Modesto
• Modesto Junior College—West Campus, 2201 Blue Gum Ave. (El Capitan Building), Modesto
