‘Steady increase’ in early voters in Sonoma, Napa counties ahead of Election Day

Nearly 41% of Sonoma County voters cast ballots late Thursday in the 2024 election, a crucial presidential race that many Americans consider one of the most consequential in the nation’s history.

Deva Proto, Sonoma County’s registrar of voters, said turnout was strong: 125,816 returned ballots, including nearly 2,000 early votes cast in person at voting centers, the first of which opened a week ago.

In Napa County, 31,434 ballots were cast, representing 37% of registered voters. Of those, 549 votes came from residents who voted in person at voting centers.

“We have a great turnout. We are above other elections,” Proto said. “We have always had a fantastic turnout. We are seeing a very steady increase.”

Early voter turnout in Napa and Sonoma counties is currently lower than that of the 2020 general election. However, voting in 2020 was disrupted by the pandemic, leading to a historic increase in early voting.

“2020 was a very strange year because of the pandemic,” Proto said.

In Sonoma County, election turnout varied by race and city. The city of Sonoma had the highest turnout, with about 3,819 ballots, or 50%, returned. More than 43% of voters in Sebastopol and 39% of voters in Santa Rosa had returned their ballots by Thursday.

Sonoma County’s 1st District – represented by outgoing Supervisor Susan Gorin – had the highest return, just above 47%. The 3rd District, represented by Chris Coursey, was at 32.4%.

There are no races for supervisors in either county in November, but dozens of city council, school board, special district and local measures will be decided by voters.

Proto said turnout at this point before the 2022 election was 25% and 33% in 2018. Comparisons of early in-person voting to 2020 are difficult to make because the county had no in-person voting centers at the time. open ten days before election day, just like now.

Another 24 of those voting centers will open in Sonoma County on Saturday, joining the seven that have been open since Oct. 26.

Proto reminded voters that they can cast their ballots at any voting center in the province as voters are no longer limited to an assigned precinct.

All 31 voting centers in Sonoma County from now on have the same opening hours: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Saturday to Monday; Tuesday (Election Day), 7am to 8pm

Napa County Voting Centers are also open for early in-person voting in Napa, St. Helena, Yountville, Calistoga and American Canyon. This weekend they are open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In-person voters must cast their completed ballots Tuesday by 8 p.m. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before November 5 and received by November 12 to be counted.

Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur said the first unofficial results of vote-by-mail received through Sunday, Nov. 3, will be released on election night at 8:01 p.m.

Next, the county plans to release by 10 p.m. the unofficial tally of in-person ballots received during early voting since Oct. 7 and on Election Day, Tuteur said. One additional unofficial release of results for in-person ballots will occur before midnight on Election Day, Tuteur said.

Proto said the results of early in-person voting ahead of Election Day, and key ballots received over the weekend (and possibly Monday), will be released immediately after voting ends at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Periodic updates will follow depending on how quickly ballots are processed after polls close, she said.

“We will have updates – we don’t know when, it depends on when the ballots come back into our office from the voting centers,” Proto said. “We will continue to update until we receive all ballots back from voting centers.”

You can reach staff writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.