Riverside County absentee ballots to arrive in mailboxes this week

Absentee ballots for the June 3 primary election will be mailed to voters throughout Riverside County beginning today.

According to the Office of the Registrar of Voters, 489,000 mail-in ballots will be arriving in post boxes by the end of the week.

Voters have until May 27 to apply for a mail-in ballot, which must be returned to the registrar of voters by 8 p.m. on June 3 to be counted.

Residents have until May 19 to register to vote.

More information is available at www.voteinfo.net.

Last month, the Board of Supervisors approved $2.5 million to conduct the election, covering printing, processing and personnel costs, which municipalities will have to share with the county.

There are 35 local, state and federal seats up for grabs, though Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo and Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent are running unopposed, while in the assessor-clerk-recorder’s race, Assistant Assessor Peter Aldana is the sole candidate seeking to replace longtime Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward, who’s retiring.

Other county races, however, have multiple candidates.

Supervisor Marion Ashley is fending off a challenge from educator Mark Orozco, while Supervisor John Benoit is fighting to protect his seat from termed-out Assemblyman V. Manual Perez, and Supervisor John Tavaglione is being opposed by 30-year Jurupa Valley teacher Arthur Gonzales.

District Attorney Paul Zellerbach’s attempt to win a second term is under threat from veteran capital homicide prosecutor Mike Hestrin, whose grassroots campaign has been underway for more than a year.

Sheriff Stan Sniff is facing a challenge from a subordinate sheriff’s Lt. Chad Bianco. Sniff was appointed to fill the vacancy left following the resignation in 2007 of then-Sheriff Bob Doyle. Sniff was elected to his first term in 2010.

County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young was also appointed to office in 2007 and elected to his first term in 2010. He’s being challenged by longtime teacher Michael Scott.

There are two Superior Court judicial seats on the line, as well as three county Board of Education seats.