3 Bay Area counties made it easier to vote in California's primary

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KTVU) - At the San Mateo County election office, one man is voting in San Mateo Monday and not in Brisbane where he lives.

And it's perfectly legal.

"I don't have to vote nearby because I have business in San Mateo today. Yeah it's great," said Greg Schwartz.

That voting convenience is possible because San Mateo is one of three Bay Area counties along with Santa Clara and Napa Counties, that are part of the Voter's Choice Act. That act did away with polling precincts and replaced them with voting centers.

San Mateo County residents can vote at any of the 42 voting centers regardless of where in the county they may live.

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"Those vote centers are set up with technology that basically replicates our election central office. We have 42 centers that are like mini election center offices that are tapped in to the voter registration database," said Jim Irizarry, San Mateo County Assistant Chief Elections Officer. 

San Mateo County is expecting a 60% turnout, typical for presidential primary elections.

The vast majority of people vote by mail.

Poll workers have to quickly remove the ballots from their envelopes before they can be processed.

The county has machines that scan voter signatures which are then verified by poll workers.

Once verified the ballots can be entered into the voting machine for tabulation. But no one can access any results until the polls close Tuesday.

Those who already voted by mail for a candidate who has since dropped out, cannot get a new ballot.

Some voters still haven't made up their minds.

"Looks like I'm leaning toward Warren or Biden. I haven't decided until I get in," said Schwartz