Where to drop off your vote-by-mail ballot in Grover Beach

GROVER BEACH, Calif. - From now until the Nov. 3 Election Day, Grover Beach residents can drop off their mail-in voter ballots at two locations within the city.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state legislature passed a bill in June that requires each county to send vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters to minimize in-person interactions at polling centers.

Grover Beach residents should begin receiving their ballots by mail this week if they have not already.

Completed vote-by-mail ballots should be signed on the space provided and can be returned by mail or at a designated drop box. Residents who opt to mail in their ballots can return them anytime before and up to Election Day, Nov. 3.

The first ballot drop-off box is located in front of Grover Beach City Hall at 154 S. 8th Street next to the police station. The box is locked and secured with camera surveillance. It will be available for ballot submission from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, after which it will be brought inside City Hall and emptied by city staff who will deliver the ballots to the County Elections Office in San Luis Obispo.

The second ballot drop-off box will be located at the Grover Beach Community Center at 1230 Trouville Avenue. The community center will also be open as a local voter center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. beginning Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. There, residents can submit their mail-in ballot or vote in-person.

In-person voting is being offered over a four-day period to help decrease crowds, avoid lines and maintain physical distancing requirements.

Once a ballot is returned to the County Elections Office, it is considered “in the ballot box” and may not be retrieved or changed. Residents may sign up for California’s Where’s My Ballot tracking tool to help keep track of their personal ballots.