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What Happens To Your Ballot After The Election? In Many California Counties, It Gets Recycled (Eventually)
Environment Nov 03, 2020
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Andrew Nixon / CapRadio A voter uses a touchscreen at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. When the election is over there will be “thousands and thousands of reams of paper” from ballots and envelopes voters have turned in from Sacramento County alone, according to Janna Haynes , a public information officer for Sacramento County Elections. And when she says reams, she means it.
The county sent out nearly 890,000 ballots last month. Each ballot is about the size of two 8×10 pieces of paper. “The response has been overwhelming,” she said. “Having almost half of our possible ballots already back in the office is really encouraging.” With so much potential paper waste from the election process, what happens to all the ballots and the envelopes they come in?
Two elections code sections reference ballots either needing to be destroyed or recycled 22 months after a federal election takes place, according to Sam Mahood , press secretary for the California Secretary of State. The rule is in place in case the election is challenged or a recount is needed, said Haynes with Sacramento County. After that time limit passes — nearly two years — the county […]
