Election Day in Rancho Mirage

Nearly half of the vote-by-mail ballots for Rancho Mirage’s municipal election have already been received, county officials said Monday.

The Riverside County Registrar of Voters reported that 5,100 of 9,984 issued ballots had been received as of Tuesday morning for the city’s all-mail ballot election, which will decide who among six candidates will claim three seats on the city council.

The incumbents are longtime council members

– Dana Hobart

– Iris Smotrich

– Rancho Mirage Mayor Charles Townsend Vinci.

The challengers are

– Longtime Rancho Mirage resident and business owner Kate Spates

– Former Sony and JVC executive Robert Mueller

– Attorney Michael Harrington.

No established polling places will be open on Election Day Tuesday, but residents can drop off ballots until 8 p.m. Tuesday at Rancho Mirage City Hall, 69825 Highway 111, or the Registrar of Voters’ Office in Riverside at 2724 Gateway Drive.

Ballots sent in the mail, and postmarked by Tuesday, must be received no later than three days after Election Day to be counted. The election results will be known by 8:00 pm on election night.

KESQ & CBS Local 2’s Jeremy Chen will have live coverage of the election starting at 5 am.