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Alameda County used drive-thru, mobile ballot collection and multi-language services to provide voters with convenience in submitting their ballots. Despite the rain, there was a huge crowd. The election office described the intensity of voting that day as being close to a presidential election.
The US midterm elections will take place on the 3rd, and Alameda County’s “Ballot Drop Stop” service allows voters to hand their ballots to staff through their car windows without getting out of their cars. Despite the drizzle, people were still driving, cycling or walking to pay their tickets. The county elections director said that a large number of people were voting on election day and the grand occasion was approaching.presidential election .
is located involun The Alameda County Elections Office is located in the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in the city. On Election Day, a “ballot drive-thru” collection station was set up outside the courthouse at the intersection of 13th Street and Fallon Street. Election officials received mail-in ballots directly from the car window, allowing people to submit their votes without getting out of the car. This service continued till 8 pm.
Alameda County Elections Director Cynthia Cornejo said in an exclusive interview that the service has been very popular, and voters have been arriving since 7 a.m. Apart from driving, people were cycling, walking and even walking their dogs to pay fares. There were also people riding unicycles.
Cornejo reported that the “ballot drive-thru” had a past record of collecting 6,000 ballots. The elections office also arranged for a ballot drop stop tour prior to the election, visiting various towns in the county and staying for at least two days at each stop to provide voters with the convenience of handing in their ballots nearby.
In addition to the Oakland Elections Office, Alameda City Hall also has a manual ballot collection station, where election workers receive ballots at curbside, providing another convenient delivery method.
Talking about the voting situation, Cornejo pointed out that as of the evening of the 2nd, the proportion of recovered ballots in the county was slightly more than 30%, which is similar to the situation of normal midterm elections. On the 3rd, voters continued to flock to various polling stations and drop boxes and the observed popularity of voting was close to that of a presidential election.
He said election teams were visiting various locations throughout the day to collect votes, and staff also reported that some drop-off boxes were almost full. Although it rained on election day, it did not affect voters’ willingness to vote, but actual turnout will not be confirmed until statistics are complete.
Additionally, Alameda County continues to expand multilingual election services. Cornejo said polling stations will proactively ask voters if they need language assistance and will provide services through bilingual election staff or arrange for remote real-time translation through cooperative agencies. Some polling stations also have reference ballots translated into different languages to help voters understand the content. This year, the supply of materials in some languages will also be increased based on local language needs.
Although the methods of handing out votes are becoming more and more convenient, there are still voters who prefer to go to polling stations in person and feel the atmosphere of participating in the elections. Voter Lindsey Misner said that although mailing a ballot is convenient, she prefers the feeling of being in person. “I think it’s very patriotic to vote in person,” he said. She said she gets to see residents from different backgrounds that she wouldn’t normally meet, and gets a feel for the diversity of the community. Voting is also a way to support the community.
Summary FAQ
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Voters can drive directly to the polling station outside the courthouse, hand the mailed ballot to the staff through the car window, and complete the voting process without getting out of the car, which is especially convenient for people with limited mobility or people who are in a hurry.
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The county election director said people have been coming to cast their votes since 7 a.m. and people are standing in queues at polling stations and drop boxes. Overall popularity and crowd is close to the presidential election.
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The county government arranged for a roving ticket collection service to visit different cities, and also set up a manual ticket collection station at Alameda City Hall, and provided bilingual personnel, remote real-time translation, and multi-language reference ballots to improve voting convenience.
