๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฒ!
The county is reporting that early returns are high, and thatโs great news, exceptโฆthis is a โvote by mailโ election. And as of yesterday, only about 55% of the ballots have been returned city-wide.
In some districts, there have been markedly fewer ballots returned; in District 5, for instance, only 45% have been returned, and worryingly, only 37% of have come in from those between the ages of 18 and 34. The returns are even more dismal for Latinos, at 34%, and not much better for Asians (38%) and African Americans (39%).
District 5 is also the smallest district, with only 6,363 ballots sent out.
For perspective, in 2018, with 36,684 people voting for โat largeโ Chico City Councilmembers, the difference between the top 2 candidates was only 227 votes; with small districts it may come down to only a literal handful of votes. (Check out the pictures to see a breakdown of the ballots that have come in city-wide as well as by district.)
If you have not voted yet, donโt wait until Tuesday. There will only be 4 Voter Assistance Centers and 5 Drop Boxes open in Chico, which will likely mean long lines and wait times on Tuesday. The best bet at this point is to take your ballot to one of the Official County Ballot Drop Boxes by Monday.
๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ฑ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ:
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ โ ๐๐ก๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐
โข ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ & ๐๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ (๐๐๐๐) - ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐
โข ๐๐๐ ๐. ๐๐ง๐ & ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ
โข ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ
โข ๐๐ก๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฑ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐/๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ.
If youโd like to see the breakdown per district, here they are, as of 10/30/2020:
