Governor recall election: What you need to know.

On Sept. 14, California residents will have a say in deciding incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom's fate in a recall election that will come in two parts.

The first part: Should Newsom be recalled from the office of governor? The second part: Who should be his replacement? All candidates running to be Newsom's replacement will be listed for voters to choose from. According to the Secretary of State website, 46 replacement candidates have qualified for the recall ballot: nine Democrats, 24 Republicans, two Green Party members, one Libertarian and 10 with no party preference. A full list of replacement candidates can be found here. 

The question of whether Newsom, who is in the third year of his first term, should be recalled will be decided by a majority. If a majority says to remove him, then the question of who should replace him will be decided by a plurality—whichever candidate receives the most votes, as opposed to whichever candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes. In a field with 46 candidates vying for a plurality, the replacement governor could be decided by a small percentage of voters. Be on the lookout for Monterey County Weekly's upcoming endorsement on the recall election. 

Important dates

All registered Monterey County voters should have received recall election ballots in the mail, as all ballots and local information pamphlets were mailed by Aug. 16. If not, you can call the county's election office at (831) 796-1499. Unregistered voters have until Monday, Aug. 30 to register in order vote in this recall election.

Once the ballots have been received, voters have until Tuesday, Sept. 14 to fill out the ballots and stick them back in the mail, as the postage is pre-paid. For those who wish to drop off the ballots by hand, Monterey County voters can drop off ballots at any of the 14 24-hour drop boxes, or four business-hour drop boxes. A map is included at the bottom of this article, or you can find a list of drop box locations here. 

Those who choose to vote by mail can track their ballot's status at the Secretary of State's website, receive real-time updates on their ballot status through the state's ballot tracker or call the county's election offices at the number listed above. 

Monterey County will also offer two in-person early voting locations. The Monterey County Elections Office at 1441 Schilling Place—North Building in Salinas opened to in-person voting on Aug. 16 and will run until Election Day on Sept. 14. The Embassy Suites at 1441 Canyon Del Rey in Seaside will open up to early voting on Monday, Aug. 30 and run until Sept. 14. Both locations are open from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Both locations will open for weekend hours on Saturday, Sept. 11 and Sunday, Sept. 12, from 9am to 5pm. 

In-person voting on Election Day, Tuesday, Sept. 14, will be open from 7am to 8pm at all Monterey County polling places. A list of Monterey County polling places can be found on the county's website.