Voters interested in casting their ballots early for the Nov. 6 Gubernatorial General Election can now do so at the County Registrar of Voters office, located at 5600 Overland Avenue on the County Operations Center campus in Kearny Mesa.

Early voting began Monday, Oct. 8, and will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. The office will also be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4 for weekend voting.

Over 1.1 million mail ballots were sent out through the U.S. Postal Service on Monday, Oct. 8 and voters could find them in their mailboxes as early as that same day. For the Nov. 6 election, voters will receive a two-card ballot. Contests will be listed on the front and back of each page. The two-card ballot also weighs a bit more, so it will take 71 cents in postage. Considering the length of the ballot, voters who requested their ballot by mail are urged to act early.

“If you know how you want to vote, grab that mail ballot when you get it, mark it and send it back in right away,” said Registrar Michael Vu. “The sooner we get the ballot back, the sooner we can start processing it so it will be counted right when the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.”

Mail ballots are convenient for voters who’d rather not make a special trip to the Registrar of Voter’s office to cast their ballots or wait for the polls to open on Election Day. Registered voters can request a mail ballot until October 30.

Meantime, the Registrar is still looking for poll workers, especially those who are bilingual in any one of six specific languages, for the Nov. 6 Gubernatorial General Election. The Registrar’s office is required by federal law to provide bilingual speakers and voting materials to voters who speak Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese. A survey by the University of California, Berkeley showed a need for speakers of Arabic and Korean at about 90 precincts, so the Registrar’s office is also recruiting bilingual poll workers in those languages for the Nov. 6 election.

In addition, the Registrar needs standby poll workers who can be assigned on short notice. Standbys who can also speak a second language are in demand, too. Poll workers receive a stipend ranging from $100 to $175 depending on the assignment, and those who are bilingual receive an additional $15 if they are assigned specifically to provide language assistance to voters.

Poll workers must be registered voters in the state of California or must be permanent residents in the United States and have transportation to their assigned polling location. They will also need access to the Internet to complete an online training and attend a two-to-three hour, in-person class depending on their assignment.

Bilingual poll workers fluent in English and one or more of the languages mentioned are needed in cities and neighborhoods like El Cajon, Lakeside, Carlsbad, Clairemont, Escondido, Poway, Bonita, Chula Vista, Eastlake, National City, San Ysidro, Spring Valley, and many more.

Prospective poll workers can apply online at sdvote.com. For more information about the upcoming elections, people can call (858) 565-5800 and for more information about poll workers, people can email pollworker@sdcounty.ca.gov.