Voting is an integral part of the democratic process, and it's essential to understand the election cycle in order to make sure your voice is heard. In San Diego County, the election cycle is divided into several stages, each with its own important dates and events. Knowing when these events occur can help you make sure you're prepared to cast your vote. The general election is the first stage of the election cycle.
During this stage, you don't actually vote for the president, but rather tell your state which candidate you want them to vote for at the voter meeting. The winning candidate's state political party then selects the people who will be the voters. If an unopposed candidate is declared elected by the certifying authority, then the election for that position is not held and their name appears on the ballot as elected to office. In counties with a population of more than 500,000 inhabitants, it's recommended that the commissioners court appoints during its July term the administrator of the central counting station, tabulation supervisor, and assistants of the tabulation supervisor if a central counting station has been established. The deadline for party presidents to submit to the county commissioners court a list of people eligible for district president elections and alternate presiding judges for appointments is also during this stage.
This list also includes state and county officials for the November general elections. The next stage of the election cycle is when early voting begins. In elections where the territory served by the early voting clerk is located in more than one county, this applies if the sum of the counties' populations is less than 100,000 or 100,000 or more. The mail-in ballot must be mailed no later than 30 days before Election Day if the seventh day falls before the 37th day before Election Day. On election night, there will be fluctuations in the unofficial reporting of results as more ballots are processed and counted. This includes military and foreign ballots and validated provisional ballots.
The positions and names of candidates declared elected will appear separately after contests contested in the election under the title “Unopposed candidates declared elected”.If any member of a governing body of a political subdivision is elected from territorial units such as single-member districts, an election can be canceled in a particular territorial unit if each candidate for an office that must appear on the ballot in that territorial unit has no opposition and no general contest with opposition will appear on the ballot. In an election where the territory served by a secretary is located in more than one county, this section applies if the sum of those counties' populations is 100,000 or more. Unless a county voter registrar has already taken possession of provisional ballots before this date, a general guardian of electoral records must deliver ballot boxes or transfer boxes containing provisional ballots (or provisional affidavits when using DRE systems) along with a summary of provisional ballots and list of provisional voters for each electoral district to voter registrar before today. The recommended date for appointing presiding judge of early voting board and deputy presiding judge or poll workers from electoral district to act as early voting board is also during this stage. The vast majority of votes cast in these elections will be cast on paper ballots or using machines that produce a paper audit record which allows tabulation audits to be carried out from paper record in event of problem with voting system, software, auditing records or tabulation. On first day, a voter can vote with late ballot if they are outside their county of residence on Election Day due to death of immediate family member (related to second degree of consanguinity or affinity) that occurs on or after that day. The recommended date to confirm phone number of county voter registration office on Election Day is also during this stage.
