SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—In one of her final acts before her retirement at the end of the year, Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin on Tuesday officially certified the results from the 2020 presidential election.
More than 86 percent of county voters—a total of 146,857—cast ballots in the election, which was a record, Pellerin said.
Managing this year’s election, Pellerin said, was made more difficult by Covid-19 restrictions, under which 133,782 people voted by mail, more than 90 percent of total votes cast.
The same was true in Monterey County, where more than 70 percent of the county’s 206,917 voters voted by mail. According to the Monterey County Elections Office, a record 80.6% of voters cast ballots.
Santa Cruz County also offered two in-person voting locations, a mobile voting service, 16 in-person locations the weekend of the election and a voting center at UC Santa Cruz.
Pellerin praised election department staff in helping to carry out the task, in addition to city clerks in Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley and Watsonville.
“Each of these individuals is passionate about our democratic process and committed to providing accessible, accurate, and transparent elections,” Pellerin stated in a press release. “Together they are an amazing elections team, and I am extremely grateful for their service.”
Under California election code, any voter may request a recount within five days of certification, specifying which candidates or measures they want to be recounted. Anyone wishing to do so must deposit the funds with the county clerk to cover the costs of the recount.
Pellerin will sign the certified statement of vote on Dec. 6.
For information, call Pellerin at 454-2419, email ga***********@sa*************.us or visit votescount.us.A summary of the results, as well as a precinct-by-precinct report, can be found at www.votescount.us and at the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department.
