Yolo County mobile voting center hits the road for rural communities in week before election

YOLO COUNTY -- Yolo County's elections office is hitting the road to help drive up voter turnout in the most rural communities. 

A first-of-its-kind mobile voting center in our region is making stops every day in communities like Dunnigan, Madison, Yolo, Zamora and Knights Landing. 

Wednesday, the mobile center spent the day parked in Guinda, a small community in northern Yolo County. 

"This is the closest without a doubt, yeah," said voter Alan Taylor, who drove to the Guinda pop-up vote center from his home in nearby Rumsey. 

Voters like Taylor who live in more remote parts of the county now have a fully functioning voting center close to home, at least for a day, eliminating what can be an hour's drive to other permanent voting sites in the county. 

"I just like to physically go and vote rather than mail in a ballot, so this is wonderful. We only have 150 people in Rumsey. This is like a big city here. They have a store and everything," Taylor said of making the drive to Guinda to cast his ballot Wednesday. 

The mobile voting center will be out in communities for the entire week leading up to the November 5 election. 

On Election Day, the center has an important job: in case of any incident or emergency at a physical voting center, the mobile unit would be rolled in as a backup to prevent any voting disruption. 

"We are the only county from here to the northern part of that state that has this," said Jesse Salinas, Yolo County's registrar of voters. 

Salinas says the mobile center is not only unique in the region but greatly needed. 

"In 2020, we heard from folks that when we transitioned to a vote center model, these rural communities weren't getting in-person service," Salinas said. "We wanted to make sure we could reach out to the more rural communities so they had an opportunity to vote in person, ask any questions they had and provide comprehensive services for them." 

The mobile center first hit the streets two years ago and is a one-stop shop where people can register to vote, vote in person, drop off their ballot, and get any help voting that they might need including foreign language services and accommodations for special needs. 

"We're coming to you and we're providing these services in your community to make voting as easy and accessible as possible for you," Salinas said. "The numbers keep growing and growing the more people know about it." 

The mobile vote center is setting up in these communities across Yolo County through Monday, Nov. 4: 

• Yolo
  • Yolo Post Office, 14138 2nd Street, Yolo
    • Tuesday, October 29: 10 am - 6 pm
• Guinda
  • Western Yolo Grange, 16787 Forest Avenue, Guinda
    • Wednesday, October 30: 10 am - 6 pm
• Madison
  • Guy's Corner, 17776 County Road 89, Madison
    • Thursday, October 31: 10 am - 6 pm
• Zamora
  • Zamora Community Hall, 9810 Blacks Street, Zamora
    • Friday, November 1: 10 am - 6 pm
• Clarksburg
  • Clarksburg Delta High School, 52810 Netherlands Avenue, Clarksburg
    • Saturday, November 2: 10 am - 6 pm
• Dunnigan
  • Dunnigan Gateway - Starbucks, 30016 County Road 8, Dunnigan
    • Sunday, November 3: 10 am - 6 pm
• Knights Landing
  • McDermott Truck Barn, 42171 Highway 113, Knights Landing
    • Monday, November 4: 10 am - 6 pm

For more information visit the Yolo County elections website. 

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• Yolo County