Many Bay Area counties open voting centers for early voting on weekends
SAN FRANCISCO – With less than two weeks left until election day, election officials want to make it easy for people to vote. Many Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, opened voter centers on Saturday to provide early voting on weekends.
"So easy, very smooth, I just walked in, there was not much of a line," said San Francisco voter Juliette Viramontes.
Viramontes came to city hall on Saturday to update her registration and vote.
"I do have a long work schedule and I usually have to work past 6. So I decided that the weekend would probably be better," said Viramontes.
There were no long lines at the election office, but a steady amount of people came through.
"With work, things can sometimes be unpredictable. But on weekend, having this opportunity to come and vote, it's just so easy. There's nothing blocking my calendar today, so I figured it would be a great time to come in," said San Francisco voter Chris Nguyen.
Torwon Deyein works and lives overseas. He came to vote with his mother since he's back for a quick break.
"My mom is with me, so if I don't vote, I might have a little bit of a problem," said Deyein.
Because of the presidential election, San Francisco elections director John Arntz believed more than 80 percent of the registered voters will turn out.
"It just expands the options for people. As we get closer to election day, we'll see more and more people come into city hall, including the weekends," said Arntz.
Arntz said they already received about 90,000 ballots. They expected to get very busy leading up to election day on Nov. 5.
"People can still register and vote in this election. They just have to do so in person," said Arntz.
For Viramontes, several races are very important for her, including the mayoral race. She's not happy with crime and homelessness.
"I do think that we're starting to recover. But I think that some new changes are needed to be able to really get back to how we started out. I just think what's happened in the city since the pandemic has been detrimental to the city's image," said Viramontes. "Just get out, vote, make your voice heard, and let's save our democracy."
