• Santa Barbara County Registrar of Voters Joe Holland reminds voters that as Election Day approaches, voters have several options for returning their ballots, according to an Oct. 24 statement from the county. “All registered voters in Santa Barbara County were mailed an official vote-by-mail ballot and voting materials in early October,” Holland said in the statement. “Now it’s time to return the ballot.” After the ballot has been marked with the voter’s selections, it should be sealed in the provided envelope, signed, and dated. “It is critical that the return envelope is signed. Each ballot signature is cross-checked with the voter’s registration signature so the ballot can be validated before it is counted.” Voters may choose to return their ballot through the U.S. Postal Service, no postage necessary. Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, Nov. 5. The Elections Office provides several drop boxes throughout the county that are available 24 hours a day, until 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. To avoid concerns about postal delivery delays, voters are encouraged to use a drop box to return their ballot. Find a list of drop box locations at sbcvote.com.
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler (both D-California) applauded President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination of Judge Serena Murillo and Judge Benjamin Cheeks to fill vacancies in the U.S. District Courts for the Central District and Southern District of California, respectively, according to an Oct. 23 statement from Padilla’s office. “Judge Murillo and Judge Cheeks hold a wealth of litigation experience, with long-standing commitments to justice and deep roots in the Southern California legal community,” Padilla said in the statement. “The daughter of a Mexican-American farmworker and a school teacher, Judge Murillo has demonstrated a tireless work ethic and developed extensive criminal and civil judicial experience with the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Judge Cheeks has earned immense respect from his colleagues in the Southern District and has fought to protect vulnerable immigrants against fraud. I applaud President Biden for his continued commitment to nominating highly qualified, diverse judges to serve California.” Murillo has been a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2015. She also served as an associate justice pro tem on the California Courts of Appeal from 2018 to 2019. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Murillo served as a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 1997 to 2014. Cheeks has been a United States magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California since July 2024. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Cheeks was a criminal defense lawyer in private practice at the Law Offices of Benjamin J. Cheeks in San Diego from 2013 to 2024.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the start of a new service year for the California Service Corps, with 10,000 service members expected to provide more than 5 million service hours in 2025, according to an Oct. 21 statement from Newsom’s office. The members will help communities by tutoring and mentoring K-through-12 students; supporting disaster recovery; combating food insecurity and connecting vulnerable people to resources and services; and taking climate action by planting trees, preventing wildfires, and installing solar panels. Members receive living stipends, and many can receive up to $10,000 toward higher education after completing their service to be used for college, trade school, or to pay back student loans. “As we launch this new service year with the nation’s largest service corps, we reaffirm that service to others is the highest form of civic duty,” Newsom said in the statement. “These paid opportunities embody the best of California’s values—a commitment to each other, mutual understanding, and the belief that when we lift others, we all rise together.”
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 10, 2024.