All ballots have been mailed to voters eligible to vote in the Santa Cruz City Special All-Mail Ballot Election on August 30. Voters who have not yet received their ballots should contact the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department at 831-454-2060.

Currently, there are 36,279 voters registered to vote in the City of Santa Cruz. Of those, 7,890 have returned their ballots. More than 6,500 ballots have been returned to the county elections official by the post office because the voter no longer resides at the address on file.

Despite the fact that the deadline to register to vote has passed, voters who were registered to vote in Santa Cruz County and moved into the City of Santa Cruz may still vote a ballot at the County Elections Office after completing a new voter’s registration card for their new Santa Cruz City address. Voters have until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30 to vote in the special city election.

Voters who have not returned their mail ballots, may still return their ballots by mail in the postage-paid envelope provided or in person to either the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department or Santa Cruz City Clerk’s Office during normal business hours. In addition, there is a white mailbox-style ballot drop box located in front of the County Government Center at 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz that is available for voters to return ballots 24 hours a day, seven days a week up to 8 p.m. on August 30.

Since this is an all-mail ballot election, there will be no polling places established for this election; however on Election Day, August 30, the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voters to return their ballot. Ballots must be returned no later than 8 p.m. Tuesday, August 30 - postmark is not acceptable.

Voters should be aware of the strict laws governing return of their voted absentee ballot. The law prohibits any absent voter’s ballot to be returned by any paid or volunteer worker of any campaign. The law does, however, allow a voter, who because of illness or other disability, to authorize certain relatives or a household member to return the ballot for them.

Santa Cruz County election officials remind voters who are returning their vote-by-mail ballots that they must sign the declaration on the outside of the envelope. Unfortunately, if there is no signature or if the signature on the vote-by-mail ballot return envelope does not compare to the voter's signature on his or her voter's registration card, election officials cannot count the ballot.

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For more information, please call the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department at 831-454-2060, visit our office at 701 Ocean St., Room 210 in Santa Cruz, or check out our website at www.votescount.com.