The County Clerk’s Office has nailed down the locations for ballot drop boxes and in-person voting for the Nov. 3 General Election, and mail-in ballots have been sent to all registered voters in San Luis Obispo County.
The North Coast will have ballot drop-off boxes at the Cambria Library, 1043 Main St.; the Cayucos Library, 310 B St.; Los Osos Library, 2076 Palisades Ave.; and the Morro Bay Library, 625 Harbor St.
Hours of operation (when the libraries are open) are: Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the “book drops” are accessible all the time. The drop boxes are inside and in the case of the Morro Bay branch, an outdoor “book return” box is doubling as a 24/7 ballot box (be sure to put your ballot in the correct box, as there are two in Morro Bay).
The normal number of in-person voting sites was nearly halved after some 42% of the election volunteers from the March Primary told the Election’s Office they didn’t want to work the General Election due to concerns about the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Also, 42% of the polling locations pulled out for November, forcing the County Clerk’s Office to find new locations that were also large enough to ensure social distancing is adhered to. Some towns — Cayucos and San Simeon — have no in-person sites.
The polling sites or “Voter Service Centers” — will be open from Halloween (Sunday, Oct. 31) through Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The North Coast locations are: the Cal Fire Training Center (at Sunnyside School) in Los Osos, 880 Manzanita Dr.; Cambria Vet’s Hall, 1000 Main St.; and the Morro Bay Community Center 1001 Kennedy Way.
The hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31 through Monday, Nov. 2, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the official Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The vote by mail ballots voters are receiving in the mail now can either be mailed back via the Post Office; dropped off at any of the drop box locations; or turned in at Voter Service Centers during the 4-day election period.
Mailed-in ballots must be post marked by Nov. 3 to be counted, so readers are encouraged to send it in prior to that date to ensure your vote gets counted.
