Early voting numbers on the rise

Voting early by mail-in or physically filling out a ballot at your local election office has become increasingly more popular this election cycle. This trend is happening on the Central Coast as well.

Local voters say it’s convenient for them to get to the polls early.

“I just know I already have it finished and I don’t have to worry about it,” Donna Forbes said.

Salinas resident Jose Arelleno says he will be out of town next week so he had to get his vote in early.

“This is convenient for me to come here and vote early,” Arelleno said. “This way I don’t have to worry about not voting.”

Monterey County has its highest number of permanent mail-in voters registered in the county’s history.

“We can only prepare for 100 percent of our voters to show up, and that’s what we’ve done and now we’re doing that even earlier than election day,” Assistant Registrar of Voters Gina Martinez said.

Not only is early voting and mail-in at an all-time high in Monterey County. As of Tuesday San Benito County already has 2,000 more votes casted early than this time last mid-term election.

Santa Cruz County has over 6,000 more vote-by-mail registered voters than in 2016.