San Benito County voting centers are now open

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif, (KION) San Benito County elections announced that their in-person voting centers opened on September 11th.

There are four voting centers located in San Benito County: San Juan Community Center, CA National Guard Armory, Sunnyslope County Water District, and the Elections Department. The centers are open Saturday, September 11th-13th from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday, September 14 from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

There are over 37,000 registered voters in San Benito County alone and so far, the county registrar says turnout has been successful.

"Thus far, we have about 38 percent of the number of voters that we have received ballots from. People would hold on to their vote by mail ballots till the last day and they show up on election day and bring them in so that’s changing a little bit… we’re getting them in earlier,” said Joe Paul Gonzalez, San Benito County Registrar of voters.

Voting in person is a short and simple process, all you have to do is walk into any of their voting centers.

"They're going to be asking you identifying information like the first three letters of your last name and your house number and that point we're going to look you up to make sure you're registered here in San Benito County," said Francisco Diaz, Assistant Clerk-Recorder for San Benito County.

After that, they ask for additional identifying information like date of birth to look through their database to verify that you have not voted in California. Then, you can either choose to digitally make your ballot or just have a paper ballot printed for one to mark.

Your final step is going to be to come on over and deposit the ballot yourself in our ballot box and at that point you've completed your entire voting experience," said Diaz.

One of the most common mistakes people make when is voting is forgetting to provide their signature or not bubbling their choice correctly.

Drop-off boxes for mail-in ballots will be available at all four voting centers.