Following the 2020 General Election, Melinda Dubroff, San Joaquin County’s Registrar of Voters, issued the following statement:

“American citizens across the country, deployed overseas and living across the globe, exercised their right to vote in striking numbers. That was clearly evident in San Joaquin County where citizens participated in democracy at historic levels with more than 143,761 ballots validated and reported on election night. Those votes included Vote-by-Mail ballots and in-person votes received at the Voter Service Centers. So far, this is 39.3 percent of votes processed to date out of our total number of registered voters, but there are many more ballots to count.”

Based on the number of ballots yet to be processed (129,921), it is likely San Joaquin County will have a total turn-out in excess of 75 percent, Dubroff added, meaning three out of four registered voters had a say in the outcome of national, state and local races.

Daily reports of ballots yet to be processed will begin posting at 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5. These include remaining vote-by-mail, conditional voter registration/provisional, and damaged ballots.

“It is absolutely astounding and gratifying to see so many people turn out and make their voices heard, especially during a worldwide pandemic. This was a significant increase over the March Primary Election at 34 percent and exceeded the 2016 Presidential Election at 68 percent,” Dubroff said. “We know the pandemic played a role in this record turnout because every registered voter received a postage-paid vote-by-mail ballot, rather than mailing ballots to voters upon request. But even so, the record numbers we’re seeing also tell the story about how passionate and motivated people are about exercising their right to vote. I hope it is a trend that will continue for years to come.”

At this time, Dubroff said they still have approximately 130,000 ballots to count, and expect to certify the results by Dec. 3, 2020.

“Above all, San Joaquin County wishes to express our deepest gratitude to our ROV and ISD team and to our 1,500 staff and election workers and volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to making this election so successful. This includes the friendly greeters at the door and at the check-in tables to the drivers and ballot transporters, counters and processors, many of whom are working all day and into the night to ensure every vote is accurately counted,” noted Dubroff. “Many hours of labor went into making this an election that will be long remembered for all the records it broke. Every San Joaquin County resident should be proud of the election workers and the voters for their strong showing on behalf our country.”

For the latest results, visit www.sjcrov.org.