5 hours ago
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MENDOTA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The agrarian City of Mendota has not had an in-person ballot halfway for California's peculiar election.
Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez says being capable to ballot successful idiosyncratic is patriotic and a close everyone should have.
"Every assemblage and each metropolis successful the region of Fresno should person a spot to vote," helium said. "There's a batch of radical that don't similar to ballot by mail, and they hold for that time truthful that they tin consciousness the pride."
There are ballot drop-off boxes, but the nearest in-person ballot halfway is successful Firebaugh. It's astir an eight-mile drive, but Martinez says each mile counts for a assemblage already battling for access.
"A batch of radical don't person a car, and they are looking to spell to that halfway present successful the City of Mendota and ballot close there," helium said.
He besides expressed vexation with the connection with the Fresno County Clerk's Office.
"The infinitesimal that the region clerk knew that we were not going to person a spot present successful Mendota, helium should person communicated," Martinez said.
Fresno County Clerk James Kus points to staffing limitations arsenic 1 of the main reasons for this decision.
"Non-availability of workers, locations, and nary clip to beryllium capable to marque the replacements," helium noted. "We are efficaciously astatine 50% strength. And that does mean that a fewer locations oregon a fewer neighborhoods don't have the ballot halfway that they're used to having."
Kus says authorities instrumentality requires them to supply astatine slightest 53 ballot centers during a regular predetermination and 18 ballot centers during a peculiar election. Right now, Fresno County has 26 unfastened centers.
He says they conscionable didn't person capable clip to unfastened immoderate more.
"When determination are constricted resources, we have to sometimes marque those tough challenges, pugnacious decisions to supply that arsenic evenly and arsenic arsenic imaginable to the community," Kus said. "We request to maintain accessibility. We request to maintain access. We request to maintain opportunities crossed the county."
Kus explains how agelong they person to program straight impacts the fig of workers they person and which centers they determine to open.
"For a regular election, we commencement recruiting 180 days before the election. For this election, we started the election 75 days before; 75 days is excessively abbreviated a clip to bash a statewide election for immoderate of our section communities," helium said. "When you have such a abbreviated time frame, you can't fill immoderate holes. There's not capable clip to recruit."
The clerk's bureau worked with the City of Mendota and Supervisor Brian Pacheco to unfastened up a ballot center.
"Supervisor Pacheco came up with 4 people. There were six radical present from our community," Mayor Martinez said. "Tomorrow, they're going to beryllium they're serving present successful the City of Mendota."
The one-day ballot halfway volition beryllium disposable astatine the Mendota Branch Library from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
