However you vote is your right—just make sure you exercise it.

Pam Marino here to remind you there are 20 voting days left in this single-issue statewide election for Proposition 50. Or as County of Monterey Registrar of Voters Gina Martinez said earlier today in a county news briefing: “If you are ready to vote we encourage you, don’t delay, vote today. Turn in that ballot early.”

Martinez reported that as of today, 23,281 ballots have already been turned in over the last couple of weeks since they hit mailboxes, out of 219,194 registered voters in the county. 

If you’re not registered to vote, there is still time to register—the last day is this Monday, Oct. 20. It’s easy to do at registertovote.ca.gov. 

Starting Tuesday, Oct. 21, people can still pursue conditional registration and use a provisional ballot by showing up in person to the Monterey County Elections Office, 1441 Schilling Place, Salinas. A satellite office location opens Oct. 31 at the Embassy Suites in Seaside, 1441 Canyon Del Rey Blvd.

Returning ballots is easy, either by mail in the postage-paid envelope, or at one of 20 official Monterey County Elections dropboxes. (I updated our interactive Google map showing where each one is located this election.)

Mailing ballots on Election Day, Nov. 4, isn’t recommended, Martinez said, unless you take it inside the post office and have a postal worker stamp the date on it. If you drop it in a mailbox that day, there is a chance it’ll get stamped on the following day, making it no longer eligible for counting.

If you’re someone who likes to vote in person, Martinez said to check your ballot packet for your polling place since it may have changed since the last time you voted.

Speaking of polling places, if you do go in person, you might just meet one of 90 high school students scheduled as poll workers this Nov. 4, out of 650 total. Martinez said their high school poll worker program has been extremely popular and continues to grow. They can earn community service hours or $135 for the day’s work.

Students who worked last November reported it was “an incredible day of work, an incredible day of service,” Martinez said. The students learned a great deal working side by side with adult poll workers and said the experience taught them why it’s important to vote and why it’s important to be civically engaged at all levels of government.

Perhaps most of all the students were impressed by the fact that they, as students, were able to help people engage in one of the most important rights we have, the right to vote.

“I’m just so much more optimistic every time I’m able to engage with these young people,” Martinez said.

Speaking of our right to vote, now is the time to exercise it before it slips your mind. If that mail-in ballot has been staring at you from the kitchen counter, fill it out and drop it off. It only takes minutes.

How you vote is up to you, but if you’re interested in Editor Sara Rubin’s take on Prop. 50, you can read last week’s Spin column here.