SAN DIEGO — San Diego County has successfully used mail-in voting for years, and the option will be even more important during this upcoming election amid a pandemic.

“‘Vote Safer San Diego’ is our campaign theme for this upcoming election because everything has for the most part been upended, including how this election is going to be conducted,” County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said Tuesday.

Residents will see two major changes in the way they can vote in the upcoming November election. Every registered voter in the county — 1.8 million people — will get a vote-by-mail ballot, whether or not they signed up for it. Those who choose to vote in person will have four days to do it. 

“The consolidation of our polling places from 1,548, which we had in the March election, to approximately 235 sites that we are still identifying because we are going to need much larger locations to ensure physical distancing, social distancing of voters,” Vu said.

In San Diego County, 75% of all registered voters do so by mail already, Vu said. It’s a streamlined and secure process that the county has successfully used for years. Vu said the notion by President Donald Trump that mail-in voting isn’t safe or secure is simply not true. 

“There’s no level of systemic fraud that is out there that’s really being discussed,” Vu said. “And certainly, if that was going to be the case, then this would have been discussed many moons ago than just in this upcoming election. We’ve conducted many elections where the majority of all votes in our county have been by mail, and they have been accurate, and they have had a level of integrity throughout the entire process.”  

All registered voters in the county will receive a mailer detailing what’s new in the upcoming election. Residents can visit www.sdvote.com to register or check their registration status.