Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer urged Riverside County voters today to drop off vote-by-mail ballots before Tuesday, Nov. 4, so that their votes can be among the first results posted right after the polls close.

The Registrar advises against returning ballots by mail now. Ballots must reach the registrar by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. Ballots postmarked before the deadline are not accepted and cannot be counted if they reach the registrar’s office after the 8 p.m. deadline on Election Day.

Voters are encouraged to return their ballots to drop‐off boxes in participating city clerks’ offices through Monday, Nov. 3 or at any polling place in the county on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4. On the Hill, Town Hall and the Pine Cove Water District office are the two polling places.

Ballots also can be deposited in the 24‐hour drop box outside the front entrance of the Registrar of Voters office at 2724 Gateway Drive in Riverside.

A link to the location of the drop‐off boxes is available on the Registrar of Voters’ website at www.voteinfo.net or you can call 951-486‐7200 for more information.

Voter registration is 891,575, and 522,000 vote-by-mail ballots have been issued. Approximately 136,000 voters already have cast ballots for the election, according to Spencer. Voters who turn in ballots by Monday can be part of the Election Night excitement because results from their ballots are among the first released after the polls close.

Vote-by-mail ballots dropped off at polling places on Tuesday will be counted in the days following the election. An estimated 80,000 ballots will remain to be counted after Election Day as a result of vote-by-mail ballots dropped off on Tuesday and provisional ballots cast at the polling places.