Bay Area county election offices already hard at work counting votes
MARTINEZ — Election Day is still more than a week away, but many county election offices are already hard at work, counting ballots.
In Contra Costa County, almost everyone is expected to vote early or by mail.
County Clerk Kristen Connelly is in her first presidential election cycle since she was elected in 2022.
She's taking the job to heart and embodying the theme of "voting" from head to toe.
"I think it's fun and playful and I can be promoting our work without saying a word," said Connelly.
She wears a necklace with the word "vote" on it, and her shoes are covered in "I voted stickers."
She spends most of her days at the County Clerk's office. The office has about 30 full-time employees and about 50 additional people who are on staff just for the election season.
She also talks with voters, like Maria Belo of Martinez.
Belo decided to go in and vote early. She hopes the clerk's office will do everything they can to keep the elections safe and fair.
"I think that there has to be things in place where the signature is verified, the person is verified so you know that it's an honest election," said Belo.
At the election operations center just around the corner, they're already doing that.
Election workers are collecting ballots from drop boxes and preparing them for the next step.
"This is the workhorse of a place where 90 to 95 percent of our votes are going to come in by mail," said Belo.
A sorting machine takes images of all the envelopes with the voter's signature. Those images are then compared to the signature on file to verify it is legitimate.
Connelly's staff tells her that they are getting ballots from places where they have seen historically low voter turnout, an early sign that 2024 is going to be a big year.
Almost everyone in the county will vote by mail or vote early, so Election Day is becoming more of an election season.
"I think this work is infinitely interesting and I'm just so honored to have this job every day," said Connelly
And with some of the biggest days of her clerk career still in front of her, she's excited to see how the 2024 election cycle continues to unfold while supporting all of her constituents.