Nevada County’s new ballot processing center on Loma Rica Drive still has that fresh paint smell while already in full operations mode. The new 2,000 sq ft ballot processing area and a secure 1,700 sq ft secure warehouse offer the necessary space to securely process Nevada County voters’ ballots and offer plenty of space for observers.
Long in the works, the new facility provides options for temp workers to be trained in all aspects of an election, be that warehouse operations and secure storage, signature verification, batch processing and more.
Assistant Clerk Recorder/Registrar of Voters Corey O’Hayre said, “We hired 13 temp workers for this election, but part of having this space is that we’re now able to hire more people if we need to. There’s more space for people to work.”
The relatively new sorting machine which used to be in the Elections Office at the Rood Center has been installed in the new facility, with several observer spaces available to anyone who wishes to observe the proceedings.
Flexibility is the idea, staff move around and do different tasks at different times. O’Hayre explained, “We used to hire a certain amount of people just for warehouse. Now we can take part of those people and I call them crossovers, they can learn to do the warehouse tests, answering phones and doing signature verification and more. We still have like a smaller warehouse team, but it allows us to be flexible with who we actually are hiring. And we actually hired two less people than we normally do in an election this time around to see how that all works out.”
We briefly spoke with temp worker Jenny Michael, familiar to many as a KVMR broadcaster, and asked her about her job at the processing center. “I’m a crossover, so I’m learning various different things. Answering the phones, answering people’s questions about their ballots. I have helped bringing dropboxes to our different Dropbox locations in Nevada County and picking up ballots. Also, signature verification, learning the verification, comparing signatures. There is a multi-step process here and I’m learning all about that. It’s fascinating!”
Some 5,000 voted ballots have already been received for the November 4 Special Election. Voter registration in Nevada County is above state average. Out of 81,133 eligible citizens, 94.96% or 77,044 are registered voters in Nevada County, according to the Secretary of State’s 60-day report of registration. Likewise, turnout is generally higher in Nevada County than the rest of California. 83.59% of registered Nevada County voters cast their ballot in the 2024 General Election – the statewide average was 71.43%.
For those wanting to vote in person, the prior sorting room at the Rood Center has been repurposed as a vote center until the larger Providence Mine room opens on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Voters can also use any of the drop boxes located throughout the county, vote at the Community Room in Truckee or at several vote centers that open as early as Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. The full list of vote centers and drop boxes can be downloaded here. Ballots can be returned via USPS as well.