Tuesday is Election Day, but voters across the country have been casting ballots for several weeks as millions of mail-in and in-person ballots pour in daily.

Nationwide, more than 77 million people had voted as of Sunday evening, including more than 7 million in California, according to the Washington Post.

In Sonoma County, some 45% of the approximately 310,000 registered voters had already cast their ballots as of Monday afternoon. In Napa County, 44% of the 85,000 registered voters voted.

Early turnout rates lag behind the 2020 election, when voting was heavily influenced by changes during the pandemic.

Another potential factor, said Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur, is media attention to the seven swing states considered decisive in the presidential election. California is not one of them.

Still, Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Deva Marie Proto said she expects 85 to 90 percent turnout in the county, based on historical patterns. This rate generally places the county well above the statewide turnout rate.

“I would not be surprised if it is lower than in 2020, when the participation rate was above 90%,” she said in an email Monday.

In Napa County, Tuteur expects voter turnout to be lower than 86.4% in the 2020 general election.

For those who haven’t voted, voting centers are open Monday in Sonoma and Napa counties until 5 p.m. On election day, these centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can vote or cast your absentee ballot at any time. one of these voting centers.

Here’s a link to the locations of Sonoma County’s 31 voting centers.

Here is a link to the eight voting centers in Napa County.

Even those who have not yet registered have a last minute option. Although the standard voter registration deadline is October 21, citizens who still wish to register can do so on Election Day at the Registrar of Voters offices in Sonoma and Napa or at any voter registration center. vote by completing a conditional voter registration envelope.

“People should try to get in as early as possible,” Proto said.

Election offices are processing the conditional registration and will count the ballot if the voter is eligible and has not already voted, election officials said. The California Secretary of State’s website has more information. on same-day voter registration.

The state also offers voters a way to know when your absentee ballot is received and counted, with the option to be notified by email, text or phone. Go here to register for voting notices. F

This election day also coincides with a red flag warning signaling the start of several days of critical fire conditions expected to last through Thursday and bring possible power cuts.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said planned outages are “probable” this week in a number of California counties, including Lake, Napa and Sonoma, starting Tuesday. Outages are likely Wednesday and Thursday in Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties. (Here’s how to check if you will be affected by the planned outages.Y

Proto said local voting centers are not in outage areas, so voting should not be affected.

“Based on the maps we’ve seen, voting centers will not be affected,” she said, adding that county emergency personnel are in close contact with PG&E officials.

Tuteur said PG&E informed his office of the possible outages, but he did not receive a specific map showing where the safety outages were planned. He said he was told it wouldn’t happen until after 8 p.m. and that he didn’t expect Napa’s main election office to be hit.

“It’s not going to happen in downtown Napa,” he said.

Regardless, Tuteur recommended people vote early. “To avoid lines at our voting centers, vote early,” he said. “But we are ready to welcome you until 8 p.m.”

If you’re still in line at 8 p.m., state law requires that you be allowed to vote, he said. Anyone who tries to queue after 8 p.m. will be “hunted out”, he said.

After the polls close: what to expect in terms of results

Californians will still vote when polls on the East Coast close and the first states begin reporting their results at 5 p.m. PT.

But officials warned it could take days to know who won the presidency. While polls show a historically close race, the closer the preliminary results, the longer it will take to determine a decisive margin in the Electoral College, allowing the media to project a winner.

In 2020, it took four days for major media outlets, including the Associated Press, to make this call for President Joe Biden. The three swing states that took the longest in these elections, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, could again be factors in a prolonged wait for a projection this year, aaccording to the Washington Post.

It may be easier to determine which parties control the House and Senate on election night or shortly after.

It’s also a mixed bag for statewide and local results, the first of which will be posted on the secretary of state and county elections office websites shortly after 8 p.m.

Guardian, Napa County’s voter registration office, said the first unofficial results of absentee ballots received through Sunday will be released on election night at 8:01 p.m.

Then, before 10 p.m., the county plans to release its unofficial count of in-person ballots received during early voting since Oct. 7 and on Election Day, Tuteur said. Another unofficial release of in-person voting results will occur before midnight on Election Day, Tuteur said.

Proto said results from in-person early voting before Election Day and major ballots received over the weekend (and possibly Monday) will be released immediately after voting ends on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Periodic updates will follow, depending on how quickly ballots are processed after polls close, she said.

“We will have updates — we don’t know when, it depends on when the ballots come back to our office from the voting centers,” Proto told The Press Democrat on Friday. “We will continue to update until we have received all ballots from the voting centers.”

You can reach staff writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.