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President Donald Trump last week again brought into question the integrity of the upcoming election by suggesting, without evidence, that voters could engage in fraud at polling places. 

“Go into the polls and watch very carefully,” Trump said at the first presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Since the debate, Trump and his campaign have continued calls for poll watchers, calling on an “Army for Trump.” 

Although every registered California voter will receive a mail-in ballot this week, most counties will still offer physical polling locations for those who want to cast a ballot in person. For those who want to, state law allows the public to observe many aspects of the election process — from preparation of voting equipment to the canvass of the vote after Election Day. 

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Identity theft experts and elections officials are on guard for a new type of cybersecurity threat - one that stands not just to rob you of your personal information, but undermine your faith in the election.

Last week, NBC 7 Investigates showed you how to track your ballot by signing up for text notifications.

Even then, Kim Alexander with the California Voter Foundation worried bad actors might capitalize on this new statewide voter service.

“One issue that’s been discussed on one of the election security lists that I’m on is the potential for somebody to spoof this service,” said Alexander in an interview last Friday. “Or alarm voters with messages that are fraudulent.”

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For the first time in California history, a ballot will make its way in the mail this week to every registered California voter, a decision made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will reshape the election experience as well as the strategies of campaigns and candidates.

More than 21 million ballots will be mailed, more than in any state in the nation. Most will arrive this week, though some counties began the process almost two weeks ago. State law requires absentee ballots to be mailed no later than Monday, 29 days before the Nov. 3 election.

Few states have moved more decisively toward voting by mail over the last two decades than California, and the results have been striking. At least two-thirds of the ballots cast in the three most recent statewide elections had been mailed to voters, peaking at 72% of all votes recorded in the March primary.

On Friday, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters dropped off its first batch of outbound mail-in ballots at the post office.

Chances are good you'll find a ballot in your mailbox next week, but how can you be sure it gets to the right place when you send it back? 

For the vast majority of voters in San Diego County, finding a ballot in their mailbox is nothing new.

“San Diego voters have been used to voting by mail,” said Michael Vu, the San Diego Country Registrar of Voters. “Their preferred method is voting by mail.” 

In fact, 78 percent of San Diego County voters are already permanent mail-in voters. What is new is a way to track your ballot through the entire mailing process – it’s a lot like how you track a package through FedEx or UPS.

“We’ve always provided voters A to Z,” Vu said. “Now voters have the ability to see B through Y.”

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