By Joe Szydlowski, Redding Record Searchlight
Voters wondering where they will cast their ballots Tuesday should turn to the local elections office website as the California Secretary of State’s website appears to be having problems.
That’s because the California Secretary of State’s website is giving some Shasta County residents the wrong polling place for Election Day.
A search of several addresses in Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake, Weaverville and Shasta County on the Secretary of State’s Find Your Polling Place website brought up a result of them being mail-in-only precincts, even though those areas have polling places.
The site seemed to be functioning for Tehama and Siskiyou counties, based on a quick search Monday.
State officials said Pew Trust, a third party that manages the data, is looking into what’s causing the issue.
“County elections officials provide polling place data to Pew, which is used for our online polling place look-up tool,” Secretary of State Press Secretary Sam Mahood said in an email. “We have reached out to Pew about the current issues impacting Shasta County addresses in the polling place look-up tool.”
It did not appear to be affecting other areas of California, he said.
Pew Trusts partnered with election officials nationwide to put together the voting information project and its data, he said.
A Pew representative said in an email that the secretary’s site says the incorrect search results still refer individuals to the local county clerk’s office and includes contact information.
The Secretary of State’s website isn’t the only one causing headaches. A partnership website between Google and Facebook is giving the county’s elections office for all addresses, though it also notes that the office is the early vote location, which it is.
Nonetheless, voters can turn to the Shasta County Elections Clerk website, which is giving the correct polling information, said Cathy Darling-Allen, elections clerk. It lists the correct precinct polling places on its site. She said she wasn’t aware of the issue until contacted by the Record Searchlight. No one had reported it to her yet, she said early Monday afternoon.
Two separate voters from different parts of Redding told the Record Searchlight about the issues with the state site after searching for their polling place Monday.
Elections officials said they hope to resolve the issue by Monday evening.
Election Day facts
Hours: Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and, if you are in line before 8 p.m., you can still vote as long as you stay in line.
To find your polling place in Shasta and Trinity counties:
In Shasta County, visit http://www.elections.co.shasta.ca.us
In Trinity County, polling places will be at the following locations:
Weaverville
Veterans Memorial Hall
101 Memorial Drive
Douglas City
Douglas City Fire Hall
101 Steiner Flat Road
Hayfork
Trinity County Fairgrounds Dining Hall
1000 Highway 3
Junction City
Junction City Community Hall
71 Dutch Creek Road
Lewiston
Lewiston Community Church
72 Viola Lane
Know your rights: The California voters’ bill of rights is available at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-bill-rights/
ID rules: Most voters will not need an ID to vote. But a handful will, mostly first-time voters. Those first-time voters without IDs or who encounter specific issues, such as voting in-person after losing a mailed ballot, can still cast a provisional ballot. However, those who did not register on or before Oct. 24 cannot vote.
Voter hot-lines for issues and complaints: 800 345-VOTE (8683) – English; 800-232-VOTA (8682) - Spanish.
Source: California Secretary of State website.
©2016 the Redding Record Searchlight (Redding, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
