So now that you’re all up to speed on how to Vote by Mail and have seen just how many San Mateo County residents are doing so - more than 20,000 by this morning’s count nearly 22,000 by this afternoon’s count - let us reiterate one point.

Piece of cake and peace of mind.

Yes, that would be Track & Confirm, the feature on our Web site that allows you to track when your Vote by Mail ballot was sent to you and when it was received by the Elections Office. Using the bar code on your ballot envelope, it works just like the tracking systems used by FedEx or UPS. 

Like we said, it’s a piece of cake. Just enter the number in your residential address, your zip code and your date of birth, and voila! Instant confirmation that your ballot didn’t go the way of the black hole. We call that part peace of mind.

We’ll even illustrate how simple it is:

To our right is an example of an actual voter’s Track & Confirm Results. After entering just three items of personal information, Track & Confirm shows that her Vote by Mail ballot was mailed to her on Oct. 9, and that the Elections Office received her voted ballot on Oct. 23.

She is all done, with nothing else to worry about, and assured that her vote will be counted on Election Day.

I feel like I should whip out my Easy Button.