Vote By Mail Ballots 101

 1. Vote By Mail Ballots will go out to all eligible voters like they done the past two years due to COVID-protocols. By law they have to be sent out no later than a month before the election so they should have gone last week and hopefully voters will receive them this week, if you didn’t use it last time Ballot Trax can help you track your ballot (https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/)

• • If voters have moved or changed their name since the last time they voted, or wish to change their political party affiliation, they should update or check their registration (https://registertovote.ca.gov/)
  • In the past patients have submitted voter registrations to staff which have been submitted through outgoing mail.  If you can send me a photo copy/photo of the application, we take down the info strictly for tracking purposes.
  • In the past we can had voter registration applications at different sites, if there’s interest email to get some for your program/site me and Tina Diep from CLU, Tina knows everyone including having contacts with the County Registrar’s office and we were looking to request a shipment this year.

2. Ballots are pre-paid – No postage is required

3. Ballots need to be filled out in blue or black ink

4. Envelopes are specific to each ballot – Families should not try to fit multiple ballots in one envelope or reopen envelopes after they’ve been sealed because that will invalidate the ballots. That happened more when voters needed to pay for postage.

5. Ballots need to be signed with the address written on it

6. Ballots need to be postmarked by Election Day (June 7^th) and received within 3 days after Election Day.

• • If people for whatever reason have not gotten their ballots, they can vote at any one of the Vote Centers (https://acgov.org/rov_app/vcalist) or go to the County Registrar to get a new ballot.
    • Some of our patients and staff have become poll workers on Election Days (https://www.acvote.org/pollworker).
    • There’s especially need for bilingual poll workers.

• • The closest Vote Center in the Oakland Chinatown area/Little Saigon is at the County Registrar at 12^th and Fallon.
    • Oakland High School and Oakland Tech will be vote centers this year.

• • California has rules for same-day registration on Election Day, they might be asked to show some form of identification.

Ways people can submit their ballots:

• • Submit your ballot at a Dropbox located throughout the County (https://www.acgov.org/rovapps/maps/ballotdropbox_map.htm)
    
    • Just like there have been fake COVID Test Sites out there, there have been fake Drop Boxes out there with the goals of influencing election results. Most of them the legit ones are located by government buildings or libraries.
  • Put it in a blue USPS Mailbox, but if doing it on Election Day it would be safer to drop it at a post office or Drop Box, because not all USPS Mailboxes are collected more than once a day.
  • Ballots can be dropped off at any Vote Center (https://acgov.org/rov_app/vcalist)
  • Can AHS staff can help patients submit their VBM ballots? Yes. We have submitted VBM ballots through outgoing mail before, but if you choose to do it you are the one taking responsibility for that ballot, meaning they should write your name in the “submitted by” section of the envelope and it should be your name and info listed and not AHS’