Strong early voting in El Dorado County

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - El Dorado County voters have historically been a mail-in ballot voter, with about 80 percent of those registered putting their ballot in the mail.

So far, over 34,000 ballots have been received by the El Dorado County Elections Office and tabulated. This is about 35 percent of the 124,353 registered and eligible to cast their vote in this primary election.

The County is one of 15 in the state to have implemented voting centers, allowing voters to submit their ballot days before an election. Since 80 percent normally mail in a ballot, the County election's department is targeting the remaining 20 percent and making it easier to vote.

"We have always have had a great turnout in this county, just want to keep improving it," said the County Registrar of Voters Bill O’Neill.

This is the first election ten of those counties have voting centers with the pilot program five using it in 2018. Each of those five reported an increase in voter turnout.

For the most part, all is working well except for a state-wide VoteCal system that has experienced some issues Tuesday. O'Neill said it is slowing down the process and causing serious delays, but people can still vote.

If visiting a Vote Center in the county, voters have the option of using a touch screen that prints out a ballot that they cast or getting a paper ballot to begin with. They can also drop off their mailed ballot at one of the drop boxes. All methods can be used until 8:00 p.m. on election day.

O'Neill said they are seeing a high turnout today in El Dorado County. Vote Centers had seen 950 people prior to election day, with 642 casting their ballots at the centers by 11:00 a.m. His staff is also steadily counting all the mail-in ballots.

With the new system, every voter gets a ballot mailed to them, not just those who request a mail-in version. Then each voter has the option of taking it to the vote center, dropping it in the mail, or depositing in a ballot drop box.

For those who hadn't mailed in their ballot yet and want to change their selection, they may get a new ballot at a vote center or change the vote on their previous ballot with a clear marking of intent.

The two Vote Centers in South Lake Tahoe are at Lake Tahoe Community College and the Lake Tahoe Airport until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Election Day. There are also official drop boxes all open until 8:00 p.m.:

Grocery Outlet - 2358 Lake Tahoe Blvd
Holiday Market - 2977 US Highway 50
South Lake Tahoe Library - 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd