We’re glad you’re here!

This inaugural post marks a brand-new venture for Shape the Future, the Web site for the San Mateo County Elections Office, as we’re finally hopping the blog train (yeah, yeah, we know it left a long time ago).

This blog will aim to bring you inside Election Land, if you will, to give you an in-depth look at all that goes into the casting of your vote. Your ballot shows up in your mailbox or you vote on an eSlate on Election Day, but what goes on behind the scenes to get it there?

More importantly, how do you know that voting is secure and your vote is accurately counted? Well, how could you really know unless we’re transparent about it? Hence, the blog. Many of our posts will be about election preparations that focus on ensuring security and integrity. Perhaps it will even further boost your confidence in the votes you cast.

We’ll try to file several posts a week about what’s going on at 40 Tower Road - and places elsewhere in the county - as we count down to the November 6 election and beyond. From the moving of more than 60 polling places to ballot printing and eSlate voting machine testing, we’ll blog about it all here.

Through it all, your comments are encouraged. Ask questions, raise concerns, offer praise. What do you think? We want to know.

Inside we go!