Strong voter turnout in Fresno County, 10,000 vote-by-mail ballots received a day

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Strong voter turnout over the weekend extended to Monday as thousands of Fresno County voters cast their ballots with just one day until Election Day.

"Downtown, here, we are definitely getting a mix," Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus said. "It's mostly voters that are either dropping off a ballot or looking to vote in person."

Kus says about one-third of all Fresno County voters have already cast their ballots. Officials are receiving more than 10,000 vote-by-mail ballots a day. The race to count them is now underway.

"We are pushing through as many vote-by-mails as we can that have come through the drop boxes, mail, or from the vote centers overnight," Fresno County Elections Program Coordinator Nysen Armenta said.

From signature verification to slicing open the envelopes and unfolding the ballots, Armenta said the process is designed to protect the voter.

"The way we even put them into the extractors is (that) all information of the voters is facing away from the worker, so when we remove the ballot, it truly is a secret ballot," Armenta said. "We don't know whose envelope it's coming out of."

Officials expect heavy turnout to extend through Tuesday when polls open across California at 7 AM and close at 8 PM.

Kus is urging everybody to skip the Election Day line and vote early. In Fresno County, there are still options on Monday night.

"We've got our drop boxes," Kus said. "We have 67 drop boxes spread throughout the county. Locations for both the vote centers and the drop boxes are available online at VoteFresnoCounty.com."

There is also still time to register to vote. California offers same-day voter registration, but you must do it in person, meaning you can still head to a vote center on Monday or Tuesday, register, and cast your ballot.