This year is the first year the Morgan Hill residents will vote in city council districts. Two districts, D and B, have council candidates up for election, meaning the residents within those districts will vote only for a single candidate to represent their region of the city. There is a citywide mayor race and three city measures that each voter will decide on.
Voters will also vote in districts for four of the seven seats on the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees. District elections for trustees for MHUSD, whose boundaries extend from San Martin to San Jose, began with the 2016 election.
To clarify what you need to vote in council districts for the first time, the Times asked the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters what you need to know before Nov. 6. Here are the registrar’s answers:
How can you find your assigned polling place?
A voter will find their polling place listed on the back of their Voter Information Guide, or they can go online and enter their address at https://eservices.sccgov.org/rov/
What happens if you don’t go to your assigned polling place?
A voter can go to any of our Early Voting Centers throughout the county and can pick up their ballot, vote early, or drop off their Vote-by-Mail ballot. A voter can cast a provisional ballot at any polling place. Provisional ballots are checked to ensure it is a valid ballot from a registered voter, and that the voter only cast one ballot.
However, if a voter chooses to request a provisional ballot at the wrong precinct polling place (where they are not registered), their provisional ballot may not contain all the races, propositions and measures they are entitled to vote for. For example, if they are registered in Morgan Hill and vote in Palo Alto on a provisional ballot, their provisional ballot will not include the school district candidates, and may not include the proper District candidates (such as U.S. Representative).
Can you drop a vote-by-mail ballot at any polling place?
Yes.
If a voter gets to their assigned polling place and is not registered, what are his or her options?
If they are not on the roster, they can vote provisionally as described above. If they are not registered to vote and would like to register, they cannot do that at a polling place; they must register at the Registrar’s office through Election Day or one of our seven Early Voting Centers through Nov. 5, using the Conditional Voter Registration provisions.
Is there just one assigned polling place per voter, or can he or she vote at any polling place in that district?
Each voter is assigned a specific polling place. If they opt to go to a different polling place they will cast a provisional ballot. Again, if they opt to receive a provisional ballot from the precinct where they are not registered, they won’t necessarily get all the races, propositions and measures they are entitled to vote for on their provisional ballot.
However, any voter in the county can request a ballot on demand and vote at either the Registrar’s Office or one of our Early Voting Centers prior to Election Day.
