Nearly half of all mail-in ballots received in Nevada County by Election Day could not be counted on Election Night, or 45-percent. That was 24-thousand-150. But the county’s Top Elections Official says the 29-thousand-155 votes that were tallied were the highest total since he assumed the job. Clerk-Recorder Armando Salud-Ambriz cites a couple of factors. That included beefing up staff and assigning more specific roles regarding the collection of ballots, compared to previous elections…

 

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Salud-Ambriz says historically about 50-percent of the mail-in ballots received are on Election Day. And the state’s lengthy and detailed verification process doesn’t allow those to be part of the Election Night count. For this election, he says about 22-thousand ballots were received on or just before Election Day, which is 41-percent of the entire total. Salud-Ambriz also mentions a much better awareness and participation in the sign, scan, and go option for ballots, which allows them to be part of the Election Night count. Meanwhile, he was surprised to see a voter participation rate of 65-percent, when he was expecting around 75-percent, based on early voting patterns…

 

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Salud-Ambriz says there were also some calls from voters expressing disappointment in the moving of the ballot processing center from the Rood Center to a Loma Rica Drive warehouse near the County Airport. The next vote update is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.