Alamo's incorporation vote started today - since balloting-by-mail is the preferred method of 78 percent of its residents.

The March 3 election is a historic one, in that residents will decide whether they wish to become a town or remain an unincorporated part of Contra Costa County, by voting for or against Measure A. They will also vote for five of the 15 candidates to serve as the first Town Council in case Measure A passes.

Contra Costa County Election processing supervisor Gwen Saxon said that as of today there were 5,643 absentee ballots issued out of Alamo's 7,195 registered voters.

Saxon said the number is really not that remarkable because it is not just for this election; the majority of those residents have requested that they permanently receive mail-in ballots.

Residents have until Feb. 24 to return the ballots to the Elections Office. Saxon said in order for them to be counted they must be postmarked no later than the Feb. 24 date.

There will still be polling places open to voters March 3, and absentee ballots can also be turned in at that time.

Elections processing specialist Evan Ayers said arrangements have been made for polling places in all precincts for this special election. Ordinarily, if a precinct has fewer than 250 registered voters, those people would become mandatory mail-in voters.

The final day to register to vote in the upcoming special election in Alamo is Feb. 17.

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