As the recall election for California's governor is fast approaching, so are two local special elections in the Central Valley
By ONME Newswire
In this episode of It's ONME Local Central Valley, producer host Julia Dudley Najieb reviews all the polling locations and special elections happening in August and September throughout the Central Valley.
Currently in the Central Valley this month, there are two special elections happening, one in Merced County, the other in Stanislaus County.
After an informative update of the California Recall Election, Dudley Najieb gives an overview of polling location time and dates availability, as well as where to find the 24/7 drop boxes available for the following counties: Fresno, Tulare, Madera, Stanislaus, Merced, County of Kings and San Joaquin.
On September 14, 2021, the State of California will hold a Gubernatorial Recall Election for Governor Newsom's seat. All 58 counties in California are participating in a mail-in ballot election; registered voters can mail in their ballots, drop them off at secure ballot box locations or visit their main election's office to register to vote and receive a printed ballot for the upcoming recall election. Voters should return their vote-by-mail ballots by mail with prepaid postage as long as it is postmarked by September 14, 2021 or in-person to a secure ballot drop box, to a voting location or your county elections office by 8:00 p.m. on September 14, 2021.
Counties are sending ballots out starting August 16; people will begin seeing the ballots come in the mail throughout that week.
Voters registering or re-registering less than 15 days before an election will need to complete the Same-Day Voter Registration process and request a ballot in person at his/her county elections office or polling location.
The recall ballot will ask two questions:
1) Do you want to recall Governor Newsom?
and
2) If the governor is recalled, who do you want to replace him? (vote from the 46
candidates listed)
If 50% or more vote NO, the governor would remain in office.
If more than 50% vote YES, the governor would be removed from office and the person with the most votes would replace him.
To get more information about the California Gubernatorial Recall Election process in Central Valley counties, Fresno, Tulare, Madera, Stanislaus, Merced, County of Kings and San Joaquin, watch above podcast, It's ONME Local Central Valley for detailed information or refer to list above and click on the county link to visit the website or below for location of County Elections Offices. The websites have detailed information on drop-off locations for ballots, open polling places, and more information about voting registration.
James Kus, County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
2221 Kern Street
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 600-8683
(559) 488-3279 Fax
Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
https://www.co.fresno.ca.us/departments/county-clerk-registrar-of-voters
E-Mail: clerk-elections@co.fresno.ca.us
Michelle Baldwin, Registrar of Voters
5951 S. Mooney Blvd.
Visalia, CA 93277
(559) 624-7300
(559) 737-4498 Fax
Hours: M-Th 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., F 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
https://tularecoelections.org/elections
E-Mail: absentee@co.tulare.ca.us
Rebecca Martinez, County Clerk-Recorder
200 W. 4th Street
Madera, CA 93637
(559) 675-7720
(559) 675-7870 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
https://votemadera.com
E-Mail: electionsinfo@co.madera.ca.gov
Donna Linder, County Clerk-Recorder
1021 I Street, Suite 101
Modesto, CA 95354-2331
(209) 525-5200
(209) 525-5802 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
http://stanvote.com
E-Mail: stanvote@stancounty.com
Keith Williams, County Clerk
Hall of Records
4982 10th Street
Mariposa, CA 95338
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 247
Mariposa, CA 95338
(209) 966-2007
(209) 966-6496 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
http://www.mariposacounty.org/87/Elections
E-Mail: cmorrow@mariposacounty.org
Darlene E. Ingersoll, Registrar of Voters
2222 M Street
Merced, CA 95340
(209) 385-7541
(209) 385-7387 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
http://www.co.merced.ca.us/2379/Elections
E-Mail: elections@countyofmerced.com
Lupe Villa, Registrar of Voters
1400 W. Lacey Blvd. Bldg. #7
Hanford, CA 93230
(559) 852-4401
(559) 585-8453 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
https://www.countyofkings.com/departments/administration/elections
E-Mail: Elections@Countyofkings.com
Austin G. Erdman, Acting Registrar of Voters
44 N. San Joaquin Street, Third Floor, Suite 350
Stockton, CA 95202
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 810
Stockton, CA 95201
(209) 468-8683
(209) 468-2889 Fax
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
https://www.sjgov.org/department/rov/
E-Mail: vbm@sjgov.org
Merced elections this August is an unusual circumstance for the former incumbent
Two candidates are competing to fill the vacant seat for Area 3 of the Merced City School District Board in an all-mail ballot election set for Aug. 31.
Adam Cox, former president of the Greater Merced Chamber of Commerce, and Allen Brooks, a real estate agent and the NAACP Merced branch president, are vying for the board of trustee seat. What's most unusual about this election race is that Cox was the former incumbent who resigned in 2020 to avoid a conflict of interest when applying for a job with the Merced City School District Board--that plan did not work out accordingly. As a result, Cox is running for the seat he held prior for over 10 years before he resigned.
According to the Merced Sun-Star, Cox, a 33-year-old Merced native who graduated from Merced High School, has a political science degree from Arizona State.
The Merced Sun-Star also said African-American opponent Brooks, 43, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Grambling State University in Louisiana on a football scholarship where he received a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Thereafter, he moved with his wife to her hometown, Merced. He ran for Merced City Council in November, and played a huge role in the protests in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin after he pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes.
Merced residents in Area 3 can begin voting by mail starting Aug. 2 and ending Aug. 31. Residents can also go to the Registrar of Voters in person to drop off their ballots at 2222 M Street in Merced, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The write-in candidate period ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Ceres special elections this August will break City Council's deadlock tie
In Ceres, CA, an all-mail ballot election for the city council seat District 1 that is currently vacant, will commence on August 31, 2021 for those District 1 residents only.
Out of the three candidates running, director of Modesto’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department, Laurie Smith; childcare business owner, Connie Vasquez, and business owner, James Casey, two of them originally applied for what was to be a City Council appointment, Vasquez and Smith.
However, according to The Modesto Bee, since council members and Mayor Javier Lopez were deadlocked 2-2 on their decision between the original two candidates, Vasquez and Smith during the last four city council meetings, the seat will be decided in a run-off election come this August, with Casey added to the race.
According to The Modesto Bee, Casey jumped in the contentious race because of the deadlock decision between the city council members' and mayor's seat choices.
Although Smith is the only one with local government operations experience, working in local government in Modesto, CA and as a planning commissioner for the city of Ceres, candidates Casey, a military veteran, and Vasquez, who has a history of working with children, are passionate residents also running for this seat to for the betterment of Ceres, according to The Ceres Courier.
The winner of the election will be seated at the Monday, Sept. 13 council meeting and serve until December 2022.