Mailing in your ballot? What you need to know

Close to 4 million Californians have already cast their ballots in this election thanks to early voting across the state. A majority of early voters cast their ballots by mail-in vote.
But if your mail in ballot is still sitting at home - you have three options:
- Put your ballot in the mail. It has to be postmarked by Tuesday and received by Friday in order to count. In San Francisco it's free to mail in your ballot, but that is not the case in all nine Bay Area counties. In some counties you may be asked to add extra postage to your mail in ballot. (However, all ballots will still be delivered, with or without the extra postage).
- Drop it off in person at a designated drop off spot. Every county has one, and most of them are at the county elections offices.
- Or you can drop it off at your polling location on Election Day between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
In 2012, 50 percent of votes were cast by mail in ballot. That number is expected to rise this election year.
But many people say they are taking all the time they can to fill out those ballots.
Part of the reason is because California has the longest ballot in the country this year. There are 17 statewide propositions on the ballot.
There are also a number of local measures and various local city council races to decide on.
Over the weekend San Francisco election officials had a ballot drop off location set up right in front of city hall.
They are supposed to set it up again Monday.
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