San Rafael, CA – Voters in the November 3 General Election will be excited about the first returns that night, and the Marin County Elections Department will deliver the numbers on its election results webpage. Results of vote-by-mail ballots will be available shortly after 8 p.m. on election night. Ballots cast at polling places during the early voting period will be included in the first posted results.
After Election Day, results will be updated each Wednesday and Friday by 5 p.m. until the election is final.The first thing viewers will notice when checking the online results is a new look and feel to the page. The Elections Department contracted with a provider that has a proven track record of hosting election result websites and is used by several neighboring counties. Selecting a vendor experienced in working with those counties allowed the Elections Department to have a site ready in just a couple of months.
The service will include a visual representation of results and the ability to download reports in a variety of formats, save favorite races, and follow precinct information on a map. The site is mobile friendly and available in English and Spanish.
“We wanted to provide Marin voters a results site that is easy to read, navigate, and understand,” said Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts.
Roberts said it is difficult to predict when the election night ballots from polling places will be returned to the Civic Center in San Rafael because more precincts were consolidated into fewer locations as allowed by recent state legislation (Senate Bill 423) adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Poll workers might have more ballots to account for than usual depending on the number of people who vote at their polling place, Roberts said. In past elections, ballots have started to come back around 9:15 p.m.
The Elections Department received over 84,000 ballots as of 10 days before the election compared with nearly 34,000 in 2016. The 84,000 represents an all-time county record, and the 100,000 mark has since been eclipsed. Twice as many ballots have been inserted into official drop boxes vs. through the mail, Roberts said.
“The pandemic has presented staffing challenges, but we are working overtime and weekends to process and count as many ballots as possible by election night,” Roberts said. “With such a high turnout, processing and counting mail ballots will continue throughout the canvass period after the election.”
Roberts reminded voters to sign the return envelope so ballots can be processed quickly. But if voters forget, the Elections Department will send a letter with instructions for fixing the problem. Voters will receive a letter if a signature does not compare to the signature on their voter registration card.
Roberts also reminded voters that mailed ballots must be postmarked no later than November 3, Election Day.
If a voter decides not to mail a ballot, there are other return options:
- Return a filled-out ballot in the signed envelope to the Elections Department drop box available weekdays during regular business hours, available the weekend of October 31-November 1, or on Election Day between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
- Return a filled-out ballot in the signed envelope to any polling location in Marin during the early voting days starting October 31 or before 8 p.m. on Election Day. Locations and hours of operation are posted on the Elections Department website.
- Use one of the convenient and secure drop boxes found throughout the county by 8 p.m. Election Day.
Voters can track their ballot by signing up for Where’s My Ballot on the Secrtary of State’s website.
Updates to the election night results will be posted to the Elections Department website, www.marinvotes.org, every Wednesday and Friday by 5 p.m. until the election is final.
Follow the Elections Department on Facebook.