What you need to know about ballot drop boxes ahead of 2020 election

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- All registered voters in California will be sent a vote-by-mail ballot on Oct. 5 ahead of the 2020 election. If voters want to avoid both the polling place and the mailbox, there is another option: a ballot drop box.

"This is a program that's been used in many states and in many counties here in in California for quite some time, successfully," said LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. "It just is an additional option for voters to ensure that they can feel comfortable and secure in casting a ballot in this election."

Logan said residents are encouraged to drop their ballot off at any one of the 400 boxes installed across the county.

"When you receive your ballot in the mail, it will include a list of six locations that are in the general vicinity of your residence," Logan said.

He said that the drop boxes will be monitored on a regular basis and are placed in highly-visible locations.

"The boxes themselves are high-grade steel boxes. They're bolted down," Logan said.

In Long Beach, City Clerk Monique De La Garza said that the 16 ballot drop boxes installed across the city will be monitored.

"Our local law enforcement is well-informed on the location of these boxes so they can do drive-bys of the drop boxes to make sure they're not being tampered with or vandalized," De La Garza said.

De La Garza said it is a "straight pipeline" from drop box to the county.

"The county will come and collect the ballots on a regular schedule and take them directly back to the county," she said. "This is the same as if you were to drop it off to a vote center during the 11-day voting period."

California voters can track the status of their ballot through the California Secretary of State's website.

"It will allow you to have that confidence that the ballot has been received and processed accurately," Logan said.

The ballot drop boxes will open officially on Oct. 5 and close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

"We're really encouraging people to vote early and get that ballot in it as soon as they can," Logan said.

According to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk website, a full list of drop box locations will be posted to their website 30 days prior to Election Day.

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