It will be days — if not weeks — before the uncertified semi-final results of today’s election are known.

That’s because almost 8 out of every 10 of San Joaquin County’s 326,458 voters are registered as permanent “vote-by-mail” voters. They can either be mailed — they must be postmarked on or before Mach 3 and received by March 6 — or dropped off at numerous locations.

The votes cast at polling places before they close at 8 p.m. will be counted starting tonight.

The initial vote by mail and mail ballot counting will be reported at 8:15 p.m. this evening. The first poll precinct counts will be announced at 10 p.m. and then hourly until ballots cast at polls are done being counted.

Progress counts on voting by mail ballots that have to be crossed check with signatures are scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 5; Tuesday, March 10; and Thursday, March 12.

The March 10 numbers will also include a raw count of the number of unprocessed ballots left to be counted.

Mail-in ballots and provisional ballots are then expected to take another two or so weeks to count with updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays through March 30.

Unlike ballots cast at polling places that can be verified in person, all other ballots must be compared to names, signatures, and addresses on file

In addition to polling places where mail-in ballots can be dropped off today they can be taken to Manteca Voter Service Center at El Concilio at 215 W. Center St., Manteca; Ripon City Clerk's Office, 259 N Wilma Ave., Ripon, until 7:30 p.m.; Manteca City Clerk's Office,  1001 W Center Street, Manteca, until 5:30 p.m.; and  Lathrop City Clerk's Office, 390 Towne Centre Drive, Lathrop, until 6.p.m.

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Changes this election include:

*Voting day selfies of yourself or of the ballot at polling locations are allowed in California.

*Voters in San Joaquin County will notice a new layout to their paper ballot. This is due to the County’s new voting system, Hart InterCivic’s Verity Voting System.

Of San Joaquin County’s 326,458 registered voters 140,989 are Democrats, 94,458 are Republicans, 75,566 have no party preference, 10,223 are American Independents, 2,763 are Libertarians, and 867 are Green Party.

*All voters will cast a paper ballot. The accessible device available for in-person voting, called the Verity Touch Writer, is a ballot marking device that prints a paper ballot. The ballot marking device has accessible features such as an audio ballot, touch screen, and tactile input buttons. The Touch Writer allows all voters to vote privately and independently. The Touch Writer is available at Polling Places, the *Voters will also notice the traditional paper roster of voters at the polls has been replaced with an electronic poll book, called a Poll Pad. The Poll Pad is certified by the California Secretary of State and meets the highest standards of security. The Poll Pad is encrypted and all data is encrypted. The Poll Pad is never connected to the internet. The Poll Pad will streamline voter experience at the polls on Election Day. The Poll Pad has accessibility features for voters with disabilities and helps election officials look up voter records quickly and accurately.

Of San Joaquin County’s 326,458 registered voters 140,989 are Democrats, 94,458 are Republicans, 75,566 have no party preference, 10,223 are American Independents, 2,763 are Libertarians, and 867 are Green Party.

Election results are posted on San Joaquin County’s website at sjcrov.org for unofficial election night results.

The final results are certificated on Thursday, April 2.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com