One hundred twenty-four thousand registered voters have been counted in Butte County following the Oct.19 deadline to register to vote with enough time to receive a ballot by mail, according to a press release by Candace Grubbs, Butte County Clerk-Recorder and the Registrar of Voters. As of Tuesday morning, Butte County received approximately 39,000 early ballots, according to the press release.

For the second year in a row, a state-wide initiative,California University and College Ballot Bowl, launched across California colleges and universities and motivated students to register and participate as first-time voters.

“College students are excited and motivated to turn out to vote,” said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla in a press release by the Secretary of State Press Office. “Not only have we seen a dramatic increase in the voter registration numbers of California college students compared to previous election years, but we’ve also seen 94 California university and college campuses take the initiative to join the Ballot Bowl, and encourage their students to register and vote.”

The initiative launched on Aug. 17 and has since registered over 65,000 Californian college students across 94 campuses to vote, according to the secretary of state department press release.

Chico State joined the competition along with the other 22 campuses under the California State University system. As of Oct. 20, Chico State has contributed 1220 registrations, according to the 2020 general election results.

“I’m thrilled to see the record-shattering numbers of California college students registering to vote this election year,” said Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis in the secretary of state department press release. “Thanks to the leadership of students and universities across the state, the California Student Vote Project is making huge progress in encouraging student civic engagement and promoting a democracy that is more inclusive of students.”

Individuals who missed the deadline to register online are still permitted to register by taking advantage of California’s same-day voter registration at county elections offices, polling places and vote centers.

Ballots delivered by mail must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and ballots casted in-person must be deposited via dropbox by Nov. 3 before 8:00 p.m.

Kimberly Morales can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kimberlymnews.