Time is almost up to vote in the gubernatorial recall election—the last day, September 14, is tomorrow.
It’s absolutely critical that every voter makes their voice heard. Power goes to those who show up, and the leading Republican candidate is already casting doubt on the result (of course) and signaling that his campaign will challenge it. Let’s run up the score and make our victory indisputable—and the way to do that is that every voter casts their ballot.
Here’s what you need to know:
- When mailing or dropping off the ballot that was mailed to you, make sure the ballot is in the return envelope and then SIGN THE RETURN ENVELOPE! People do forget these steps. Our checklist can help!
- If you’re going to mail it, mail it TODAY—mailing your ballot tomorrow makes it way more complicated.
- If that’s not an option, we recommend dropping it off at a drop box, vote center, or polling place. (And there are reasons to do that anyway!)
Mailing your ballot? Do it TODAY
If you’re going to mail your ballot, we recommend you do that TODAY rather than tomorrow. Your ballot must be postmarked no later than tomorrow, and the best way to ensure that happens is to get it into a mailbox or Post Office drop slot today—then, whether the USPS collects it today or tomorrow, it’ll be postmarked in time and it’ll count.
If you want to mail it tomorrow, you’ll have to use the USPS’s online locator to find a mailbox or Post Office that hasn’t had its last collection yet, and then get there in time. If you put it in after the box’s last collection on Tuesday, it’ll get collected and postmarked Wednesday—too late, and it won’t count.
The simplest, most reliable way to mail your ballot and be sure it will count is to mail it today.
Dropping it off: The best way on the last day
The last day has a couple of advantages: Polling places are about as easy to get to as mailboxes, and at any drop-off location in the City, there’ll be elections workers or poll workers there to make sure your return envelope is signed and otherwise ready to drop off.
If you go to a drop box, drop-off location, or polling place, there’s only one deadline to worry about: 8 PM. That’s when drop boxes get collected and in-person voting locations mark the end of the line. (Note that in-person locations are only open that late tomorrow. They close earlier before then, which includes today.)
We don’t expect to have lines here in San Francisco, because of how much we love voting early, but just in case, remember: Once in line, stay in line! Even after 8 PM, if you’re already in line, you can vote.
If you’re registered to vote as of August 30, you should already have your ballot. It should look like this:
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You can fill that out at home, and then drop it off at any polling place, voting center, or drop box. This makes your visit to that location super quick!
If you don’t have one because either you’re not already registered or your ballot never arrived for some reason, then you’ll be voting inside.
- If you’re registered but never got your ballot, go to a polling place. They’ll issue you a ballot. Your assigned polling place (which should be listed on your sample ballot, or you can find the address in the Voter Portal) is best, but for this election, any polling place will work.
- If you’re not registered, ask a poll worker about conditional voter registration. This has you register to vote and fill out a ballot in the same visit; if your registration is accepted (you’re confirmed to be eligible), your ballot will be counted.
After you vote: Track your ballot
SF voters have two ways to track our ballots:
- The Voter Portal includes a section that lists off everything that has happened with your ballot, from the very day it was printed all the way up to it being counted.
- All voters in California—including us—can sign up for the state’s “Where’s My Ballot” system, which sends notifications by email or text as your ballot is processed.
More ways to help win
In addition to voting, we encourage you to reach out to friends and to participate in any of the many get-out-the-vote events that will take place on the last day. Learn more on our vote page.
This election will come down to turnout, so the more of us show up and make our voice heard, the more likely we are to defeat recall attempt #6 and enable Governor Newsom to get back to work leading our state government.
One more thing
Remember the lesson of the last few regular election cycles: Wait for the real results!
Media projections on “election night” are no substitute for the actual results of counting all the votes! We all remember anxious nights where the projections had the race go one way, followed by dramatic reversals days or weeks later as the critical work of counting ballots got closer to completion.
One factor is that Republicans will be more likely to vote in person on the last day, since so many Republicans (including Trump as well as the leading Republican candidate in this election) have sown mistrust of voting by mail. Another factor is that ballots mailed today or tomorrow will take time to arrive—they have until the 21st to arrive and still count. Lastly: Doing it right takes time. Counting the votes takes time.
So, we won’t know the result on “election night”. So close the tab with the needle, tune away from the breathless coverage, and have patience for the real results to be announced when they’re ready in a few weeks.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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