Santa Cruz County Elections

November 7, 2006
Gubernatorial General Election

It is too late to mail your ballot. Absentee ballots must be received by the Election Official in your county of residence by 8 p.m., Tuesday, November 7.

You may return your ballot in one of the following ways:

1. Deliver to the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department, located at 701 Ocean Street, Room 210, or Watsonville City Hall, 250 Main Street in Watsonville. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. You will be required to sign a roster that you have returned your ballot.

2. Deliver to the Office of the City Clerk in Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley during regular business hours. You will be required to sign a roster that you have returned your ballot.

3. Drop in the Absentee Ballot Drop Box in front of the County Government Center, located at 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz – follow the bright orange signs. Or drop in the Absentee Ballot Drop Box on Union Street by the Police Station in Watsonville. The ballot drop boxes are available 24 hours a day until 8 p.m. Tuesday, November 7. NO POSTAGE REQUIRED.

4. Another person may return your ballot to any of the locations listed above if you are unable to personally deliver your ballot because of illness or other physical disability. You may authorize, in writing on your ballot envelope, your spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister or a person residing in the same household as the absent voter to deliver the voted ballot.

5. Deliver to any polling place in Santa Cruz County on Tuesday, November 7, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You will be required to sign a roster that you have returned your ballot at that particular precinct.

TOP THREE AVOIDABLE REASONS FOR BALLOT DISQUALIFICATION

While the Elections staff make every effort to ensure all eligible ballots cast are counted, the law prohibits election officials from counting ballots if they are not returned in accordance with the law. The top three reasons why absentee ballots are not counted are:

1. Absentee ballot arrives after 8:00 P.M. Election Day.

2. No signature or the signature does not compare to the voter’s signature on their voter registration card. THE VOTER MUST SIGN HIS/HER OWN BALLOT ENVELOPE.

3. Unauthorized return. You are responsible for your own ballot. Drop it in the mail or return it yourself. If you are ill or disabled, you may authorize a relative to return it for you by signing the authorization box on the return envelope.