As usual, Sacramento County's Voter Information Guide is a bit unclear for Arden Arcade's voters. The Guide has lists of Ballot Drop Box locations and Vote Centers that bury Arden Arcade's sites within "Sacramento" because of zip code designations made by the U.S. Post Office . This version of the Guide has a new format that once again doesn't include maps and continues to make it a little bit of a treasure hunt to find locations in our unincorporated community.

The new format for the lists has a column naming the city or community with its corresponding zip code. It is too bad the column doesn't have a heading about use of zip codes. Some unincorporated places made the list: Antelope, Carmichael, Courtland, Fair Oaks, Gold River, Herald, North Highlands, Orangevale, Rancho Murietta, Rio Linda, Walnut Grove and Wilton. That's because the Post Office uses those communities' names for the zip codes. Arden Arcade, which has 3 Post Offices, is hidden within "Sacramento". Maybe that makes - or once made -  sense to the Post Office, but it can be confusing to a lot of people who might be distracted by political ads for Sacramento candidates they don't get to vote for. The vast majority of voters in zip codes 95825 and 95821 reside in unincorporated Arden Arcade. The only Sacramento residents in zip code 95825 live in Campus Commons or in some western pieces of the Sierra Oaks neighborhood. The only Sacramento residents of 95821 are people squeezed into a small triangle bounded by Howe, Marconi and the freeway, along with residents of the Children's Receiving Home and its neighboring homeless shelter on Auburn Blvd., plus the myriad homeless campers who live between the Haggin Oaks golf course and Del Paso Regional Park or in the right-of-way along the north side of Auburn Blvd. between Fulton and Watt.

OK, onward! The election uses mail-in ballots that must be postmarked no later than Nov. 5th. Alternatively, voters can drop off their ballots or get a replacement envelope at any designated drop box location in the County from Oct. 7th up to and including Election Day, Nov. 5th. There will also be vote centers where voters can register, get replacement ballots, vote in person or drop off their ballots. Some vote centers will be open daily from Oct. 26 through Nov. 5th. Others will be open from Nov. 2nd through Nov, 5th. Daily schedules vary among the locations, though they all close at 8pm on Election Day. The locations in unincorporated Arden Arcade include:

BALLOT DROP BOX LOCATIONS STARTING OCTOBER 7th

• Arcade Library, 2443 Marconi. Open Tue-Sat 10am-6pm, Closed Oct. 9th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm.
• Arden Dimick Library, 891 Watt. Open Tue-Sat 10am-6pm, Closed Oct. 9th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm.

VOTE CENTERS OPEN FOR 11 DAYS STARTING OCTOBER 26th

• Conzelmann Center/Howe Park, 2201 Cottage. Open 9am-5pm Oct. 26-Nov. 4th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm. Spanish language assistance available.
• Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 4641 Marconi. Open 8am-4pm Oct. 26-Nov. 4th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm.

VOTE CENTERS OPEN FOR 4 DAYS STARTING NOV. 2nd

• Arcade Library, 2443 Marconi. Open 9am-5pm Nov. 2nd-Nov. 4th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm.
• Arden Dimick Library, 891 Watt. Open 9am-5pm Nov. 2nd-Nov. 4th. Open Election Day 7am-8pm.