{"id":496253,"date":"2026-10-14T22:14:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496253\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T22:14:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:14:04","slug":"kern-county-elections-urges-voters-to-return-ballots-early-as-midterms-near","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496253\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County elections urges voters to return ballots early as midterms near"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 With the midterm elections approaching, Kern County voters are weighing their options for casting a ballot and making sure they are registered in time.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"FILE - An election worker reaches for an unopened ballot during sorting at the Clackamas County Elections office, Nov. 7, 2024, in Oregon City, Ore. (AP Photo\/Jenny Kane, File)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"365\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6c8464d5-5cf9-4a2d-800b-7c6d4fa38d20-AP26251693046484.jpg\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>FILE &#8211; An election worker reaches for an unopened ballot during sorting at the Clackamas County Elections office, Nov. 7, 2024, in Oregon City, Ore. (AP Photo\/Jenny Kane, File)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI definitely want to do as much research as I can for local candidates,\u201d said Robert Machero, a Cal State Bakersfield student.<\/p>\n<p>Kern County Elections is encouraging voters to return their ballots early. Early in-person voting options will be held at Kern County libraries throughout the county.<\/p>\n<p>Mail-in ballots began going out Oct. 5, according to the Kern County Elections website. Voters can return completed ballots by mail, at the county\u2019s elections office on Truxtun, at one of the county\u2019s 20 official drop boxes \u2014 including one at Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s campus \u2014 or at their designated polling site.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"FILE: Kern County Election (KBAK\/\/KBFX)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f2799a3d-a894-4e0e-a945-f9ef31363cf4-medium16x9_MILLS_DROPBOXLINES_0007_frame_33.jpg\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>FILE: Kern County Election (KBAK\/\/KBFX)<\/p>\n<p>If a ballot is returned by mail, it must be postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days to be counted. Voters can also track their ballot through the Secretary of State\u2019s free \u201cWhere\u2019s My Ballot?\u201d service.<\/p>\n<p>For voters who have not received a ballot, Kern County Elections advises checking voter registration status.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll probably register sooner than later,\u201d said Cole Roth, a Cal State Bakersfield student.<\/p>\n<p>The Kern County Elections Office said Oct. 19 is the deadline to register and receive a ballot by mail. If that deadline is missed, conditional voter registration begins Oct. 20, allowing voters to register and vote at the elections office or at a polling site on Election Day.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"KBAK\/KBFX\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"365\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4cae778d-6e62-415e-9496-ddd7ab2281b3-Sequence_MILLS_VOTINGQUESTIONS_0001_frame_8288.jpeg\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think every person who has the ability to vote should vote. I think it adds up and I think it\u2019s important,\u201d said Vanna Quintana, a Cal State Bakersfield student.<\/p>\n<p>Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with Kern County polling sites open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 With the midterm elections approaching, Kern County voters are weighing their options for casting a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-496253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}