Vote Centers Open Today in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties: Where to Vote Early Before Nov. 3

October 24, 2026

Top image: A Santa Clara County “I Voted” sticker, printed in multiple languages, on a mail ballot envelope. Photo: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

By Mei-Lin Ostrander, Campaigns & Elections Reporter

Starting today, Saturday, Oct. 24, voters in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties can cast a ballot in person at dozens of vote centers, 10 days before the Nov. 3 general election. Both counties mail a ballot to every registered voter. Vote centers are for anyone who wants to vote in person, needs a replacement ballot, needs an accessible voting machine or needs to register.

Key dates

From the California Secretary of State:

Oct. 19: The regular registration deadline has passed.
Oct. 20 through Nov. 3: Conditional voter registration, often called same-day registration, is available at county election offices and vote centers. You register and vote at the same visit.
Nov. 3: Election Day. Vote centers are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Nov. 3, or dropped in an official drop box by 8 p.m.
Nov. 10: The deadline for postmarked mail ballots to reach county election offices.
Dec. 3: The deadline for counties to certify results.

Santa Clara County

According to the Registrar of Voters:

Registrar’s office, 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2, San José: open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25 and Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
23 eleven-day vote centers, open Oct. 24 through Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. They include the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San José State, 290 S. Seventh St.; the Palo Alto Art Center; the Sunnyvale Community Center; Central Park Library in Santa Clara; Tully Branch Library in San José; South Valley Middle School in Gilroy; the Los Altos Hills Council Chambers; and the Masonic Center in Morgan Hill.
About 90 four-day vote centers open Saturday, Oct. 31.
More than 100 official drop boxes are open now.

You can find the nearest location with the county’s vote center and drop box finder. Ballots went to more than 1 million active registered voters, San José Spotlight reported.

The registrar’s office recommends returning ballots early. “We highly recommend using an official drop box or send your ballot through the USPS at least a week in advance,” Registrar of Voters spokesperson Michael Borja told San José Spotlight. “There may be delays, and we don’t want those delays to make your vote invalid.” Registrar Matt Moreles told the outlet that voting early also gives officials time to contact voters to fix problems with their ballots, such as a missing signature.

San Mateo County

According to the county’s vote center flyer from Chief Elections Officer Mark Church’s office:

Three 30-day vote centers, open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: 40 Tower Road, San Mateo; 555 County Center, Redwood City; and the South San Francisco Library, 901 Civic Campus Way.
Eleven-day vote centers opening today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: the Burlingame Community Center STEAM Lab, 850 Burlingame Ave.; Daly City City Hall, 333 90th St.; the East Palo Alto Family YMCA, 550 Bell St.; the Half Moon Bay Emergency Operations Center, 537 Kelly Ave.; the St. Peter Church gym in Pacifica, 700 Oddstad Blvd.; the Fair Oaks Community Center, 2600 Middlefield Road, Redwood City; and the San Carlos Library, 610 Elm St.
About 40 four-day vote centers open Oct. 31, with pop-up locations on Nov. 2 and 3.
All vote centers are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Questions can go to the San Mateo County elections office at (650) 312-5222.

The long view

California’s shift to universal mail ballots and multi-day vote centers, under the Voter’s Choice Act, has changed what Election Day means. In both counties, the election is now a 30-day window, and most ballots arrive by mail or drop box well before Nov. 3. That changes the rhythm for campaigns, which now need voters’ attention for a month instead of a day, and for election offices, which count results over weeks. Results on election night reflect ballots counted so far, and totals will keep updating until certification in early December.

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