By Joe Yerardi | inewsource
Early voting to elect San Diego’s next mayor began Monday, Oct. 21, when the San Diego County Registrar of Voters mailed more than 350,000 ballots to eligible voters. Since then, San Diegans have been casting ballots by mail and in person at the Registrar’s office.
As of Oct. 29, some 363,000 ballots had been issued and about 52,000 ballots had been cast — a 14.2 percent return rate. Those numbers include individuals who voted in person at the Registrar’s office.
Michael Vu, San Diego County’s Registrar of Voters, was pleased with turnout thus far.
“Overall, the return is a good sign compared to our four special elections we conducted earlier this year,” Vu said, noting that the election held in March for the 40th State Senate District attracted a mere 15 percent turnout overall — with 85 percent of voters casting a ballot through the mail. In this election, Vu expects that a majority of voters will similarly opt to vote by mail.
So far, the precinct with the highest early voting turnout was one in Rancho Bernardo, with a 36 percent return rate. That was one of a few high-turnout precincts in Rancho Bernardo. By contrast, several precincts in and around the University of California at San Diego had yet to see a single voter turn in an early ballot.
A total of 677,069 San Diegans are currently registered to vote in the election. Voter registration ends on Nov. 4 and the election is Nov. 19.
If individuals wish to vote by mail, their ballots must be received by the Registrar of Voters before polls close on Election Day.
We’ve built a map that visualizes early-voting turnout across San Diego. We’ll update it daily as ballots are received by the Registrar. Check it out here.
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Questions, tips or suggestions? Email reporter Joe Yerardi at joeyerardi@inewsource.org or call him at 619.594.5321. Follow Joe on Twitter at @JoeYerardi.
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