County elections chief encourages early voting

With Californians set to choose their next governor on Nov. 3, Ventura County's top elections official has a straightforward message for Newbury Park residents: don't wait until Election Day to vote.

"People should think of Election Day as the last day to vote, not the day to vote," Michelle Ascencion, Ventura County clerk-recorder and registrar of voters, told the Thousand Oaks Acorn (Newbury Park).

Her reasoning is practical rather than political. "So many unforeseen things can happen — a rainstorm, a flat tire, an illness or accident — that can derail your plans to go vote on Election Day," she said.

All 53 vote centers open by Oct. 31

Ventura County operates under the Voter's Choice Act model, which replaces traditional neighborhood precincts with a network of vote centers that any county voter may use, regardless of where they live. That flexibility matters for Newbury Park residents juggling work commutes and family schedules: a voter can cast a ballot near home, near a workplace elsewhere in the county, or anywhere in between.

Eleven vote centers have already opened their doors, and the remaining 42 locations — bringing the countywide total to 53 — were scheduled to be operational by Oct. 31, according to the Acorn's report.

Vote centers are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including weekends. On Election Day itself, hours extend to 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. will still be allowed to vote, though Ascencion cautioned that last-minute voters could face lengthy waits.

At any vote center, voters can cast a ballot in person, register to vote (California allows same-day conditional registration), receive language assistance or accommodations for disabilities, or drop off a completed mail ballot.

Voters who prefer to return their mail ballots without visiting a vote center have 40 official secure drop boxes available throughout the county. Those boxes will be locked promptly at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 — the same cutoff after which vote centers stop accepting mail ballots. One requirement Ascencion emphasized: voters must sign their ballot return envelopes for their ballots to count.

Don't mail it now, registrar warns

Perhaps the most pointed piece of advice from the registrar concerns the Postal Service. Ascencion cautioned against mailing ballots this close to the election, citing changes in U.S. Postal Service postmarking procedures.

"If you must mail your ballot, the only way to ensure a same day postmark is to physically walk your ballot [to] the post office and ask for a manual postmark," she said.

Under state law, mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10 to be counted. Voters can track the status of their mail ballots through the state's BallotTrax service at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov, though officials note that confirmation notices may take longer as the volume of returned ballots increases in the final days.

For most Newbury Park voters, the safest options at this point are a drop box or an in-person visit to any vote center.

Election-night results could be delayed under new law

Even voters who cast their ballots early may notice something different when they settle in to watch returns on the night of Nov. 3: results could arrive later than in past elections.

Senate Bill 884, passed as urgency legislation by the state in September, requires counties to hold off releasing results if voting hours have been extended anywhere in California because of a disruption or court order.

"We must now await the go-ahead from the Secretary of State's office after they've confirmed that voting hours have not been disrupted, before we can post our initial results on Election Night," Ascencion said.

Assuming no delays, the county expects to release its first results between 8:30 and 9 p.m. on Nov. 3, followed by updates between 10:30 and 11 p.m. and again between 12:30 and 1 a.m. on Nov. 4.

The initial tally will include mail ballots received and signature-verified before Election Day, along with ballots cast during early in-person voting. Subsequent reports will add ballots cast in person on Election Day. Mail ballots returned on Nov. 3 itself will not appear in election-night totals — a common source of confusion in recent California elections, where late-arriving mail ballots routinely shift close contests in the days after Election Day.

The count continues for weeks

County officials will continue processing and counting ballots after Election Day, with additional results scheduled for release on Nov. 5, 6, 9, 12, 16, 19 and 23. Certification of the election is scheduled for Nov. 25.

That extended timeline is normal in California, where mail voting dominates and state law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to seven days later. But it means Newbury Park residents shouldn't expect every race to be called on election night — and candidates in tight contests may need to wait weeks for a final answer.

Election results and voting information are available on the county's elections website at vote.venturacounty.gov. Voters who need assistance can call the Ventura County Elections Division at 805-654-2664 or email [email protected].

The bottom line from the registrar's office: sign your envelope, skip the mailbox, and vote early — because Nov. 3 should be your deadline, not your starting point.