Fresno County is rolling out new ways to vote. Here’s what you need to know
Voting in California and Fresno County in 2020 will look different than it has for many years.
The state’s presidential primary election, which previously took place in the summer, has been moved to the first Tuesday in March. This year, it’s March 3.
Moving the vote up was a push to make California’s primary matter. When the primary was in June, the top presidential candidates had usually already been decided before Californians got a say.
This time around, everyone registered in Fresno County will get a mail-in ballot, which will go into the mail Feb. 3. People can get to voting immediately if they like, according to County Clerk Brandi Orth.
“I used to assign you to one location. Now you can go anywhere,” she said. “I will have the technology to make sure you have not voted anywhere else in the state prior to that moment.”
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors last year adopted the California Voter’s Choice Act, which gives voters several days to vote by mail or in person and does away with the old system of 268 precincts.
The immediate cost of upgrades for new equipment to make the updated system possible was about $1.7 million.
Mail-in ballots can be filled out and returned immediately, and they no longer need postage stamps, Orth said. For those who want to vote in person, voters can show up at any of the 53 voting centers.
In past elections, Fresno County voters sometimes had to stand in long lines on Election Day. The new method not only allows voters to show up at any voting center, voters can do so on Election Day and the three days prior, Feb. 29 to March 3.
Then there are 10 centers in Clovis, Fresno, Sanger, San Joaquin and Selma that’ll be open for 11 days, Feb. 22 through March 3:
Clovis
▪ Clovis City Utility Building, 1033 Fifth St.
Fresno
▪ Betty Rodriguez Library, 3040 N. Cedar Ave.
▪ West Fresno Regional Library Building, 142 E. California Ave.
▪ Woodward Park Regional Library, 944 E. Perrin Ave.
▪ Central California Blood Center, 4343 W. Herndon Ave.
▪ Sunnyside Library, 5566 E. Kings Canyon Road
▪ Ted C. Wills Community Center, 770 N. San Pablo Ave.
Sanger
▪ Sanger Community Center, 730 Recreation Ave.
San Joaquin
▪ Leo Cantu Community Center, 22058 Railroad St.
Selma
▪ Selma Neighborhood Resource Center, 1940 E. Front St., Suite 102
There are also 43 drop boxes where voters can leave their mail-in ballots. The locations can be found online and will be included in the mail with ballots.
No Party Preference
In California’s primary, political parties get to decide who can vote on their candidates. So voters registered as No Party Preference – what many call independent voters – can only cast a presidential ballot in the American Independent, Democratic or Libertarian parties.
NPP voters must request a presidential ballot, which they can do by calling the Fresno County Registrar of Voters Office. Or they can get one in person at voting centers.
About one-quarter of Fresno County’s registered voters have the NPP affiliation, according to the County Clerk’s Office.
To vote in the Green, Peace and Freedom or Republican parties, a voter must register in the respective party to vote for those candidates. Voters can register with those parties all the way up to and on Election Day.
Voter turnout
Other counties like Madera, Sacramento, San Mateo, Nevada and Napa made the move to the more modern system in 2018.
Madera County reported an increase in voter turnout and a faster tally of the results. There were also fewer requests for provisional ballots, which take longer to verify.
The presidential primary does not get as many people to the polls as the general election in November, according to numbers from the Clerk’s Office.
Almost 70% of registered voters turned out in Fresno County in November 2016, when President Donald Trump was elected, but the primary earlier that year drew about 40%.
The move to the Voter’s Choice Act system was originally sold as a way to drive up turnout, because voters will have many more days to visit a polling place, including weekends.
Orth said she doesn’t have a crystal ball and can’t say for sure what turnout looks like this year, adding the earlier primary also may affect who chooses to cast a ballot.
“The reason for the Voter’s Choice Act is to increase participation and to have voters vote early,” she said. “If they wait until Election Day, there will probably be lines.”
“But now you have this great opportunity to vote on the weekends,” she said. “So I urge them to do that.”
The Fresno County Registrar of Voters Office can be reached at 559-600-8683. Any voter’s registration status can be checked at www.votefresnocounty.com.
Other counties
For information about voting in other central San Joaquin Valley counties, contact the local election office.
Kings: 559-852-4401 or countyofkings.com/elections
Madera: 559-675-7720 or 800-435-0509 or votemadera.com
Mariposa: 209-966-2007 or mariposacounty.org/elections
Merced: 209-385-7541 or 800-561-0619 or co.merced.ca.us/elections
Tulare: 559-624-7300 or tularecoelections.org/elections
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
