| NEWS RELEASE | SANTA CRUZ COUNTY CLERK-ELECTIONS 701 OCEAN ST., ROOM 210 SANTA CRUZ, CA 95060 831-454-2060 / FAX: 831-454-2445 Toll Free 1-866-282-5900 E-Mail: gail.pellerin@co.santa-cruz.ca.us Web Site:www.votescount.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Voters Urged to Vote in the May Special Statewide Election
Tuesday, May 19 is Election Day, and voters are encouraged to get out and vote.
Options for voters include:
Vote early in Santa Cruz or Watsonville, including this weekend; or
Go to the polling place where you are assigned to vote on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters wanting to vote early because they are ill, disabled or will be absent from their precinct on Election Day may
come to the Santa Cruz County Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 210 in Santa Cruz or the Watsonville City Clerk’s Office, 275 Main St., 4th Floor, in Watsonville during regular office hours and obtain a ballot and either vote in the office or take it with you. Extended voting hours will be available this weekend at both locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Voters planning to go the polls on Tuesday, May 19 should be aware that their polling place may have changed. The location where voters are assigned to vote is printed on the back cover of the Sample Ballot and Voter’s Information Pamphlet mailed to polling place voters in late April. Voters may also go online to www.votescount.com to find their polling place.
The Elections Department has reduced the number of polling places in this election to 95, because the law allows elections officials to assign more voters to one location when it is a special election. Fewer polling places were also necessary because many of the county’s regular facilities were not available, since this election was called with just 88 days notice and many of the facilities were previously booked.
As a result of fewer polling places, more voters are assigned to each location. However, more than 55,000 of the county’s 147,000 registered voters have already received their ballot in the mail, thereby reducing the number of voters planning to go to the polls.
In the last special statewide election in November 2005, turnout in Santa Cruz County was almost 57 percent. Elections officials urge every registered voter to exercise their civic duty and vote in this Tuesday’s Special Statewide Election.
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