Jenna Templeton is dwarfed by boxes and boxes of vote-by-mail ballots as work begins to process them on Oct. 24 at the Yolo County Elections Office in Woodland. Elections staffers check signatures and scan ballots, but no vote tallies are prepared until the polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

Abida Shafi begins processing vote-by-mail ballots on Oct. 24 at the Yolo County Elections Office. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

Mindy Romero is the founding director of the UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project. She has studied the demographics of the surging number of Californians who vote by mail. Courtesy photo