Ride Along Program

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

The San Benito County Elections Department Ride-Along Program expands the department’s voter outreach to include county residents in the pick-up process of the ballot drop box that is conducted by election staff. While participating in the program, county residents may observe, ask questions, and experience the daily procedures election staff take as they collect Vote-by-Mail ballots at all official ballot drop boxes. More specifically, the program aims to: 1. Foster civic engagement and voter participation through community partnerships. The Ride-Along Program works with cities, schools, and community organizations and is designed to emphasize learning for voters; including people with disabilities, the formerly incarcerated, and people whose primary language is not English. 2. Reinforce the elections motto: Safe. Simple. Secure. The Ride-Along Program intends to disclose ballot custody procedures that are easy to understand and keep every collected ballot secure through each step of ballot intake. 3. Implement an effective in-person public outreach presence in the community. Elections staff share and encourage participants to observe and learn about the ballot intake processes and the ballot custody procedures. This program gives an in-person view to the processes that are completed by staff daily.