BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- With the general election weeks away 17 News is taking you behind the scenes to see how the Kern County Elections Division is preparing. There are a lot of steps that take place to make sure your ballot travels to the elections office safely to be counted. The process of ensuring democracy is not short or simple. Ballots have a long trip before electing a candidate into office. "Every single envelope that comes in, it runs through the sorter," Aimee Espinoza with the Kern County Elections Division said. "Once the signatures are checked, all of the envelopes get run through again." Then they get sent for a manual inspection. Signatures get compared to the ones on your registration or DMV. After the signature goes through, the envelopes are opened. A long night ahead, considering it takes Ridgecrest ballots two hours to get to the office. "At the end of the night we actually have to get on a call with someone at the Secretary of State with our final report," Espinoza said.