MERCED, Calif. — Ballots will begin to hit voter mailboxes starting Oct. 5, and elections officials in Merced County are urging voters to drop them off at a ballot drop box – which officials are expanding.
Melvin Levey, the Merced County Registrar of Voters, said the county is providing more than double the required number of 10 drop boxes — at 21.
“We want to make sure that we're giving voters as many options as possible to have a drop box, a secure drop box, directly to Merced County elections close by to them,” Levey said.
The extra ballot drop boxes were added after the United State Postal Service delayed mail delivery last year, Levey said. The USPS requires most mail to be postmarked at a regional distribution center instead of a local post office station unless requested by the mailer.
Earlier this year, an analysis by KVPR found nearly 3% of returned mail-in ballots from Merced County arrived too late to be counted in the special election in 2025.
The total number of rejected ballots was nearly seven times higher than those rejected in the general election in 2024. That’s despite a significantly larger voter turnout in 2024.
Other San Joaquin Valley counties like Kern and Tulare also reported large numbers of late ballots during the last election, as did other parts of the country.
As a result, some state elections officials have been ramping up their efforts to collect more mail-in ballots. In Colorado, for instance, officials increased the number of drop boxes available by 78% since 2018.
In Oregon, lawmakers also approved more than $1 million to spend on more ballot drop boxes throughout the state.
Election officials in some California counties are also discouraging residents from using the postal system to submit their ballots.
Levey, from Merced County, said the 21 drop boxes is just two more than the county used during the June primary. He said all drop boxes will be equipped with cameras and trackers.
His team is also going to increase the number of times they empty out the boxes, with some getting checked more than once a day.
“Voters should feel really confident that if they're using the drop boxes, not only are the ballots safe while they're in there, but my team is the only team that is visiting those boxes and removing ballots,” he said.
