This past June, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted to implement the Voter's Choice Act, giving Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine and her staff the green light to move forward on a new plan for voting county-wide.

The Voters Choice Act, or VCA, was enacted in 2016 as Senate Bill 450. This new law allows counties to replace neighborhood polling places with a new voting process where every registered voter is sent a vote-by-mail ballot and provided with county-wide drop boxes and vote centers prior to and on Election Day. 

Voters will be allowed to vote at any vote center within the county and receive other voting services at vote centers such as obtain replacement ballots, register to vote, cast regular ballots, use accessible voting devices, obtain language assistance, or receive any needed assistance.

SB 450 sets various requirements counties must comply with in adopting the VCA model, including a requirement to conduct extensive public outreach. 

Sacramento plans to implement this voting model for the June 2018 statewide election and has kicked off its implementation process with a number of meetings and new resources on its web site. In addition:

• This Wednesday, 8/16, a public meeting of the Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee (VAAC) will be held at 6 p.m. in Elk Grove; and
• This Thursday, 8/17, a public meeting of the Language Accessibility Advisory Committee (LAAC) will be held at 6 p.m. at the Registrar of Voters' office. 

Sacramento County Elections has also published a draft Election Administration Plan, as required by SB 450, that describes its current plans for outreach. Comments may be submitted to the Registrar of Voters.

Other helpful resources on the county's election web site include public notices, the results from a voter survey taken earlier this year, informational flyers, and data maps that will be used to locate vote centers.

While CVF was neutral on SB 450, we are committed to its effective implementation in counties that choose to implement the VCA. CVF is most closely involved in Sacramento's efforts, but several of the 14 counties authorized by SB 450 to implement the Voters Choice Act in 2018 are also reportedly making plans to do so, including Napa, Nevada and San Mateo counties.