Three special election races are taking place in San Diego County.
The race with the most voters is to fill the vacant seat for San Diego County District 4 Supervisor.
There are two candidates in the race: Democratic San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery-Steppe and Amy Reichert, a Republican and founder of the nonprofit Reopen San Diego that opposed many pandemic-era restrictions.
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The outcome of that race will determine which party has a majority on the County Board of Supervisors.
So far, of the 600,000 ballots mailed out, 79,000 have been returned — translating to a 13% return rate. Cynthia Paes, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, says special elections in San Diego typically have turnout rates in the teens.
There is also a race underway to fill the vacant Chula Vista City Attorney seat. There are three candidates in that race. One needs to get a simple majority to win, but if no candidate receives a majority, the top two vote-getters will move on to a runoff election next year.
The final race is for residents of Fallbrook and Rainbow to detach from the San Diego County Water Authority.
Municipal district water leaders there say they could save $7 million per year if they get their water from an alternative source in Riverside. But the San Diego County Water Authority says that if Fallbrook and Rainbow detach, the 3 million other ratepayers in San Diego will pay $2.30 per month on their bill.
Mail ballots for this election went out in early October. If you haven't voted yet, you can put your ballot in the mail or drop it off at one of several drop boxes across the county. You can also vote in person at the Registrar of Voters office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily or at one of the vote centers throughout the county.
Earlier this month, a printing error caused 7,500 voters in District 4 and around a dozen voters in Chula Vista to receive duplicate ballots.
Paes says there are systems in place to ensure that every individual's vote is only counted once. She tells voters they can vote with either ballot, and the system will suspend the duplicate.
"When you think about going to a vote center and voting in person, you have that right. But we also mailed you a ballot, so our system is smart enough. It automatically suspends the bar code on that envelope as soon as you check in that vote center," Paes explained.
