Voting by mail has become the most popular way in San Diego County to take part in the electoral process. But some, like Chris Courter, still prefer to cast their ballots in person.

The 59-year-old from Santee was among a slow but steady stream of early voters who showed up at one of 39 vote centers across the county that opened Saturday.

Voting “has an impact on our country — on the economy and politics of it all,” Courter said outside the San Diego Registrar of Voters building in Kearny Mesa. “The advantage of a democracy is that you get a vote and you get a voice and you should take advantage of that.”

Election Day is Nov. 5, but voters who want to make their selections in person or drop off their mail-in ballots before then can visit the 39 vote centers, which will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Starting next Saturday, Nov. 2, more than 200 vote centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Election Day, every vote center will host extended hours, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting center locations, complete with maps, can be found at sdvote.com.

“We provide the options, we make voter registration as easy as possible,” said San Diego County Registrar of Voters Cynthia Paes.”Our goal is to communicate those options and then voters can participate as they wish.”

As part of the California Voter’s Choice Act, ballots are sent to voters about 30 days before the election. Paes said voting by mail has been a feature in the Golden State for decades, but by 2010 a “shift took place” in which more voters preferred mail-in voting, “and it has increased ever since then.”

In 2020, more than 1.4 million ballots in San Diego County came via mail, compared with fewer than 190,000 from voters who physically went to the polls.

“San Diego County voters have preferred this method for quite some time, so we’ve ramped up our systems to match that demand,” Paes said.

The registrar’s office increased staff to as many as 4,500 election workers, including poll workers, for this election.

Christopher Hamilos, a 29-year-old from National City, cast a ballot for the first time Saturday because he believes this year’s election is crucial.

“This (election) is a deal-breaker here,” he said. “It’s really important who we have in office next.”

His friend, Raul Rivera, accompanied him to the polls.

“Not voting is doing nothing,” said Rivera, a petty officer in the Navy. “If you have opinions on anything, then vote. That’s the only way your opinion matters.”

Raul Rivera (left) and Christopher Hamilos of National City were among the early voters taking advantage of casting their ballot at the San Diego Registrar of Voters on Saturday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The three options to cast ballots are:

Vote by mail. Drop off your ballot at an official ballot-drop box. Vote in person at any voting center in the county.

To vote by mail at home, sign and date your return envelope, seal your completed ballot inside and return it by mail promptly to make sure it arrives at the registrar’s office before Nov. 5.

To drop off a ballot, seal it inside its return envelope and take it to one of the registrar’s 150 official ballot-drop boxes. The stand-alone boxes feature the registrar’s logo with the San Diego County seal and are labeled “Official Ballot Drop Box.”

Most drop boxes are available 24/7. All will close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. Locations can be found at the sdvote.com website.

As of 11 a.m. Saturday, the registrar’s office reported a little more than 800 voters had cast ballots in person at the 39 vote centers across the county.

On Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Diego, CA.Workers at the San Diego Registrar of Voters in a secure room opened and sorted through mail in ballots at the Mail Ballot Processing room. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“We’ve noticed in the early days it’s somewhat slow,” Paes said. “We’ve noticed in San Diego County there’s a large group still waiting until Election Day to go to the vote centers, so we continue to encourage voters not to wait until the last minute to go vote.”

Historically, turnout runs high during presidential election years in San Diego. In 2020, the registrar reported 83.45% participation by registered voters. According to Paes, turnout came to 81% in the 2016 election and about 77% in 2012.

Paes said turnout in the November 2014 gubernatorial general election in San Diego County came to just 44%.

“People participate in the presidential years and then they’re quiet in the gubernatorial years, which is unfortunate because critical local contests on the ballot are ignored,” Paes said.

Luis Ortiz of La Mesa, who cast an in-person ballot Saturday, said he votes regularly — but not out of a sense of pride.

“It’s not a prideful thing to vote,” the 52-year-old said. “It’s actually your duty to vote … In fact it’s probably the least you can do is engage in the voting process and research your ideals (and) wrestle with them.”

If you want to make sure your mail-in vote has been received, it can be confirmed at sdvote.com or it can be tracked through the U.S. Postal Service by signing up for “Where’s My Ballot.”