In an effort to both educate voters and increase participation in the election process, County Clerk/Recorder and Registrar of Voters Donna Linder announced a number of Voter Education Workshops which will be held in January and February.

The effort comes at the outset of a year filled with important elections local, state and federal level. The statewide primary is on June 7.

All workshops will be held at 6 p.m. at the following cities and dates:

• Ceres – Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the Ceres American Legion Hall, 2609 Lawrence Street.

• Hughson – Feb. 1, at the Hughson Community Center, 2307 Fourth Street.

• Turlock – Jan. 11 at the Turlock Library, 550 N. Minaret Ave.

• Modesto – Stanislaus Veterans Center Banquet Hall, 3500 Coffee Road.

• Oakdale –Jan. 31 at the Gene Bianchi Community Center, 110 S. 2nd Ave.

• Riverbank – St. Francis of Rome Catholic Church, 2827 Topeka Street.

• Newman – L.J. Newman Memorial Building, 649 Orestimba Rd.

• Waterford – Jan. 12 at the Waterford Community Center, 540 C Street.

• Patterson – Feb. 8 at City Hall, 1 Plaza.

The event is intended to let the public ask questions and inform voters about what Linder’s department does. Citizens will be informed how to register to vote and learn who is eligible to vote, how to cast a ballot, where to sign the envelope and ways to get the completed returned for counting. Linder’s department will also explain how the process of counting takes place.

“The election laws have been changing quite a bit over the last couple of years and we just want to let out citizens know what’s happening with the way we vote in our county,” Linder told the Ceres City Council last week in introducing the workshops.

Linder or her staff will explain what her department does to canvas the results, which by law has to occur within 30 days of the election.

“We have put many security features into place over the last two years and we want to let our citizens know that we take very seriously the integrity of the election and the security of their vote so we’re going to show them some of the security features that we’ve implemented.”

The workshop will also include an explanation on how to be involved in the process. Linder said the Elections Division always is looking to fill part-time seasonal employee positions starting at $16.62 per hour. Extensive training is provided. For the November 2020 election, 174 employees were hired locally within a few weeks.

Election volunteers are also sought during election season. Volunteers are paid a $95 stipend.

More information may be viewed online at www.stanvote.com. For more information call 525-5200 or email stanvote@stancounty.com