After being denied a ballot drop box during the 2024 election cycle, Delta College finally has one on in time for the June 2026 primary.
The new box was installed April 7 and will begin accepting ballots May 4, according to San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Olivia Hale.
It is located to the left of the entrance to Delta’s Center for Microscopy and Allied Sciences building, giving students, employees and nearby residents a new on-campus place to return their ballots.
For Delta, the addition is not just a procedural changeIt’s the result of a push that began at least two years ago, driven by campus leaders and student representatives who argued that the county’s only community college should also be one of its most visible sites for civic participation.
That case didn’t succeed in 2024.
In October 2024, The Collegian reported Delta wouldn’t receive a ballot box for the November general election, even though San Joaquin County voters had access to 26 drop boxes countywide.
The college had formally requested one by the end of May 2024, but the proposal didn’t come before the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors until Aug. 13, when supervisors declined to add Delta and left the matter open for a future election cycle.
This year, that changed.
On March 3, the Board of Supervisors approved the installation of a ballot drop box at Delta College, along with a second new box at San Joaquin General Hospital. The same action also relocated the Tracy Elks Lodge drop box to the Larch Clover Community Center. The measure passed on a 4-1 vote.
Hale said the county’s earlier decision came down largely to timing.
“The Board didn’t want to make changes between the Primary and General Elections in 2024,” Hale said.
This year, she said, the county moved forward with locations that serve broad parts of San Joaquin County.
“The box at Delta was requested by the student body and the staff,” Hale said. “We wanted to honor that as it is a very important space that represents the entire County and beyond.”
The public push for a Delta ballot box began in May 2024. In one letter, then-Delta Director of Student Life Ricky Gutierrez-Maldonado wrote that the college’s student body reflects the wider county and that an on-campus box would expand access for students, employees and local residents. In another, then-Associated Students of Delta College President Viviene Fabro and student trustee representative Dylan Myers argued that many students balance school, work and family responsibilities, making easier ballot access especially important.
Even after the idea gained support, the logistics still had to be worked out.
Director of Marketing and Communications Alex Breitler said Delta had originally designated an area near Locke and the Delta College Health Center as the proposed location. That plan changed, he said, after concerns that voters might use the Child Development Center roundabout for parking, potentially affecting both access and child safety.
The final location near the microscopy building was chosen because it’s close to temporary parking in Locke and provides a suitable place for the Registrar of Voters to mount cameras that will monitor the box once ballots become available May 4.
Breitler said the Office of Student Life plans to table on campus over the next several Wednesdays to encourage students to register to vote and will promote the new ballot box through email, social media and other channels.
Tina Rocha, ASDC senator of college and community relations, said the addition will make it easier for eligible voters on or near campus to safely return their ballots.
“Providing a ballot box on campus is not only convenient, but it also reminds students that their vote matters,” Rocha said.
