Voting in 2020 will be unlike anything you’ve experienced in the past. Across the country, up and down the state, and here in San Diego County, massive changes are underway to prepare for the Nov. 3 election amid a pandemic.
County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said rapid adjustments to the election system at this scale are unprecedented.
“Something like this generally takes four to six maybe even eight to 10 years, and we’re doing it in four to six months, if that,” Vu said. Here’s inewsource’s comprehensive guide to help you navigate everything that’s new so you can make sure your vote counts. To submit additional questions for our FAQ page, email: vote@inewsource.org.
Unlike past elections, all registered voters will automatically receive a vote by mail ballot. Check your mailbox starting Oct. 5.
The last day to register to vote and automatically receive a vote by mail ballot is Oct. 19.
You can check or update your voter registration here. If you’ve moved recently, you should update your voter registration to ensure you receive the correct ballot.
Mark your ballot using a pen with dark ink. (Ideally blue or black)
Don’t forget to sign and date your ballot envelope before you mail it back.
Your ballot must be postmarked by Election Day, Nov. 3, to count.
You don’t need a stamp. The envelope is postage paid.
The county is expanding the number of vote by mail drop-off locations across the county – 126 locations to be exact. Check the map below or visit the county’s website to view the hours and locations online. Please note that some location hours provided below may change, check online or call the registrar’s office at 858-565-5800 with any questions.
I’M WORRIED MY MAIL BALLOT WON’T ARRIVE ON TIME TO BE COUNTED.
For this election, state lawmakers extended the time ballots can arrive and be counted. Instead of the usual three days after an election, this year your ballot can arrive up to 17 days after the election and still count.
I MISSED THE OCT. 19 VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE.
You can still register to vote and cast a provisional ballot in person. Provisional ballots are counted after officials verify your eligibility. To do this, you can register at the registrar’s office or go to a polling location from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. Call the registrar’s office at (858) 565-5800 if you need help.
I’M REGISTERED TO VOTE BUT DIDN’T RECEIVE MY VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT.
County officials say you shouldn’t worry until Oct.14. If you haven’t received a ballot by then, call (858) 565-5800. Your previous ballot will be suspended and a new one will be issued. If you never receive a ballot, you can still vote in person at a polling location.
I RECEIVED A VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT, BUT I PREFER TO VOTE IN PERSON.
You can do that. Officials advise that you bring your mail ballot with you to the polling location.
I WANT TO DROP OFF MY COMPLETED MAIL BALLOT IN PERSON INSTEAD OF MAILING IT.
You can do that. For this election, polling locations will be open from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. Tip: If you’re dropping off a completed mail ballot, you can skip the line. Look for the greeter station when you arrive. You can also use the vote by mail drop-off locations outlined above.
Signatures on vote by mail ballots go through a rigorous verification process. If a signature doesn’t match, state law requires election officials to contact the voter and verify the signature before counting the ballot. For more on local safety procedures, go to the county’s website.
You can ask someone to turn in your ballot for you, but state law requires you to give the person permission. There is a place on your ballot envelope to authorize someone to return it for you. It’s also illegal in California to compensate someone to turn in your ballot for you.
Local officials say San Diego County has not experienced any systematic or widespread voter fraud. Nationally, claims of rigged vote by mail elections have been debunked. Several states have safely conducted elections primarily using mail ballots in the past, including Oregon and Colorado.
You can track your ballot and get push notifications. Sign up on the county’s website.
The Secretary of State has until Dec. 11 to certify the results. California is already one of the slowest state’s in the country to count its ballots. In recent years, several Congressional races in Southern California have taken weeks to determine a winner. This year state lawmakers have extended the time that mail ballots can arrive and be counted and the governor has ordered that all voters receive a vote by mail ballot – both changes will likely lead to a slower vote count. Expect that the outcome of some races may not be clear on election night.
Check where to vote before you leave home. This election your usual polling location likely no longer exists. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there will be just 235 locations. Typically there are far more: during the March primary election, the county had about 1,550.
Your assigned voting location is noted on the back cover of your sample ballot or you can look it up online. You can also look up all polling locations below.
Poll workers this year will be paid workers, not volunteers. You’ll see more of them at each location than in years past.
You have more days to vote in person. Polling locations will be open from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3.
Polling location hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
If you want to vote even earlier in person, you can go to the county registrar’s office at 5600 Overland Ave. in Kearny Mesa beginning on Oct. 5. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, Mondays through Fridays with extended hours on select days.
Yes. Election officials have assigned each registered voter to a specific location to help keep lines short. But if you need to vote at a different location, you can do so without casting a provisional ballot.
CAN I VOTE WITHOUT A MASK?
Masks are advised, but you can still cast a ballot without one. Poll workers will have masks available for those who forget them. If you prefer to vote without a mask or cannot wear one, staff will help coordinate voting outside.
I MISSED THE OCT. 19 VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE.
That’s OK. Head to any polling location and you can register and cast a provisional ballot. Your ballot will be counted after your eligibility is verified.
I NEED HELP VOTING.
Every polling location will have accessible ballot marking devices compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Voting materials are provided in English, Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese. Tip: You can even vote from a car. Call (858) 565-5800 to request this service in advance. Learn more about the full features of the ballot marking device and other help available on the county’s website. In addition, you can find the state election guide online. You can also look up your local pamphlet here.
I’M WORRIED THE LINES WILL BE LONG.
They may be. Officials are encouraging everyone to mail in their ballots ahead of time. During the last presidential general election, nearly 500,000 people voted in person in San Diego County. Polling locations are in larger spaces this year to accommodate social distancing and help keep lines shorter. But overall there are far fewer in-person locations to vote, which could lead to large crowds.
I STILL NEED MORE HELP.
If you have any questions about voting, call the county registrar’s office at (858) 565-5800. You can also reach out to inewsource staff on social media (Twitter: @inewsource or @maryplummer) or email us at vote@inewsource.org.
The way we vote is undergoing massive changes in 2020. Our goal is to investigate who in San Diego County wins and loses under the new system and highlight inequities resulting from these significant changes.
What questions or concerns do you have about the 2020 election?
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Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
inewsource is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to improving lives in the San Diego region and beyond through impactful, data-based investigative and accountability journalism.
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Diverse Voices
Inclusiveness is at the heart of thinking and acting as journalists, and it supports the educational mandate of inewsource. Race, class, generation, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and geography all affect point of view. inewsource believes that reflecting societal differences in reporting leads to better, more nuanced stories and a better-informed community.
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Diverse Staffing Report
Below is a breakdown of staffing data at inewsource. We determine the composition of our staff by asking them to self-identify. It is based on a newsroom of 11 and a total staff of 15 as of August 2020. Percentages are based on 15 total survey responses. The numbers include full-time and part-time staff, full-time fellows and full-time and part-time interns.
All Staff Percentages are based on 15 total survey responses. The numbers include full-time and part-time staff, full-time fellows and full-time and part-time interns.
Newsroom Percentages are based on 15 completed survey responses to this question.
Business Percentages are based on 15 completed survey responses to this question.
Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Women
80%
Women
82%
Women
75%
Men
20%
Men
18%
Men
25%
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Straight
87%
Straight
82%
Straight
100%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
Not specified
7%
Not specified
7%
Speak a language beyond English at home
33%
Speak a language beyond English at home
18%
Speak a language beyond English at home
75%
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
White
67%
White
73%
White
50%
Hispanic or Latinx
20%
Two or more races
18%
Hispanic or Latinx
50%
Two or more races
13%
Hispanic or Latinx
9%
Age
Age
Age
20-29
40%
20-29
45%
20-29
25%
30-39
47%
30-39
45%
30-39
50%
60 or older
13%
60 or older
9%
60 or older
25%
* The percentages in the charts have been rounded and may not add up to 100.
Ownership Structure, Funding and Grants
inewsource is a nonprofit organization, whose legal name is Investigative Newsource. It does business as inewsource. The business was incorporated on Aug. 4, 2009 in the state of California. Tax-exempt status as a 501c3 was granted by the IRS on Sept. 15, 2010. inewsource is funded primarily by individual contributions and foundation grants. We are guided by a board of directors.
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Financial Documents
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inewsource reporters have primary responsibility for reporting, writing, and fact-checking their stories. But before a story is published, the reporter reviews all facts and sources with an editor or another reporter. Facts must be traced to a primary source.
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Corrections and clarifications should be included at the bottom of stories and dated.
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Our audiences know the region we cover and have a stake in maintaining and improving the quality of life in San Diego and Imperial counties. We know your knowledge and insights can help shape what we cover and how we cover it. We invite your comments and complaints on news stories, suggestions for issues to cover or sources to consult. We rely on you to tell us when we get it right and when we need to keep pushing.
Your comments, questions and suggestions can be sent to the team as a whole at contact@inewsource.org or you can contact a specific member of our staff.
Lorie Hearn is the chief executive officer, editor and founder of inewsource. She founded inewsource in the summer of 2009, following a successful reporting and editing career in newspapers. She retired from The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she had been a reporter, Metro Editor and finally the senior editor for Metro and Watchdog Journalism. In addition to department oversight, Hearn personally managed a four-person watchdog team, composed of two data specialists and two investigative reporters. Hearn was a Nieman Foundation fellow at Harvard University in 1994-95. She focused on juvenile justice and drug control policy, a natural course to follow her years as a courts and legal affairs reporter at the San Diego Union and then the Union-Tribune.
Hearn became Metro Editor in 1999 and oversaw regional and city news coverage, which included the city of San Diego’s financial debacle and near bankruptcy. Reporters and editors on Metro during her tenure were part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stories that exposed Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and led to his imprisonment.
Hearn began her journalism career as a reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times, a small daily outside of Philadelphia, shortly after graduating from the University of Delaware. During the decades following, she moved through countless beats at five newspapers on both coasts.
High-profile coverage included the historic state Supreme Court election in 1986, when three sitting justices were ousted from the bench, and the 1992 execution of Robert Alton Harris. That gas chamber execution was the first time the death penalty was carried out in California in 25 years.
In her nine years as Metro Editor at the Union-Tribune, Hearn made watchdog reporting a priority. Her reporters produced award-winning investigations covering large and small local governments. The depth and breadth of their public service work was most evident in coverage of the wildfires of 2003 and then 2007, when more than half a million people were evacuated from their homes.
Laura Wingard is the managing editor at inewsource. She has been an editor in San Diego since 2002, working at The San Diego Union-Tribune, KPBS and now inewsource. At the Union-Tribune, she served in a variety of roles including as enterprise editor, government editor, public safety and legal affairs editor, and metro editor. She directed the newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the October 2007 wildfires and the 2010 disappearance of Poway teenager Chelsea King. She also oversaw reporting on San Diego’s pension crisis.
For two years, Wingard was news and digital editor at KPBS, overseeing a team of four multimedia reporters and two web producers. She also was the KPBS liaison with inewsource and collaborated with inewsource chief executive officer and editor Lorie Hearn on investigative work by both news organizations.
Wingard also worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the city editor and as an award-winning reporter covering the environment and politics. She also was the assistant managing editor for metro at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. She earned her bachelor’s degree at California State University, Fullerton, with a double major in communications/journalism and political science.
Brad Racino is the assistant editor and a senior reporter at inewsource. He has produced investigations for print, radio and TV on topics including political corruption, transportation, health, maritime, education and nonprofits.
His cross-platform reporting for inewsource has earned more than 50 awards since 2012, including back-to-back national medals from Investigative Reporters and Editors, two national Edward R. Murrow awards, a Meyer “Mike” Berger award from New York City’s Columbia Journalism School, the Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism, San Diego SPJ’s First Amendment Award, and a national Emmy nomination.
In 2017, Racino was selected by the Institute for Nonprofit News as one of 10 “Emerging Leaders” in U.S. nonprofit journalism.
Racino has worked as a reporter and database analyst for News21; as a photographer, videographer and reporter for the Columbia Missourian; as a project coordinator for the National Freedom of Information Coalition and as a videographer and editor for Verizon Fios1 TV in New York. He received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2012.
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Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Article Post Types
post
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Mary Plummer is an investigative reporter at inewsource who covers infrastructure and government accountability stories. She’s been a reporter, editor and radio producer in Southern California for more than 10 years. Her reporting has ranged from major breaking news, such as covering some of...
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