Early voting for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election began Monday, allowing voters to cast their ballots early through use of the Universal Voting Centers or Vote by Mail.

During the 29 days period preceding an election, California law allows voters to cast their ballot early thus accomplishing two goals: providing alternate options for voters may be unable to vote on Election Day, and allowing Vote by Mail voters to submit their ballot prior to the deadline.

“Any voter, from any precinct, can come in and vote early,” said San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum. “I encourage everyone to make their vote a priority. Don’t wait until Election Night when you might have to work late, fight traffic and search for parking. Just make the time to come by and vote.”

Monday also marked the first day that the Elections Office can begin mailing the official Vote by Mail ballots to voters. Slocum encouraged voters, “Keep a lookout for the arrival of your official ballot in the mail; it’s coming!”

If you are not signed up to Vote by Mail, it is not too late to join the 138,636 people in San Mateo County who already got a head start on Election Day by voting through the mail.

“Voting by mail simplifies your life, as voters can decide when and where they want to vote,”Slocum said. “Vote at work, at the kitchen table, or after you’ve put the kids to bed!”

Voters who wish to vote an early electronic or paper ballot can stop by either of our two Universal Voting Centers locations:

40 Tower Road
San Mateo, Ca

555 County Center, 1st Floor
Redwood City, Ca

To turn in your Vote by Mail ballot, simply drop it in the mail, stop by your local city hall (within San Mateo County), or bring it in to one of the Universal Voting Centers. If you forget to turn it in and Election Day arrives, you can drop the voted ballot off at any active polling place within the county – just make sure we get it before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

If you’re not registered as a Vote by Mail voter yet, hurry up! Get an application online at www.shapethefuture.org or call the Elections Office at 650-312-5222. The back cover of your Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlet also has a form that you can return to request a Vote by Mail ballot.

Voters may also fax or mail a written request to Vote by Mail to the Elections Office stating: (1) voter’s full name; (2) voter’s San Mateo County residence address; (3) voter’s mailing address, if different from the residence address; (4) name and date of the election for which you want the Vote by Mail ballot; and (5) the voter’s signature. Requests can be mailed to 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, CA 94402 or faxed to 650-312-5348. Requests must be received by the Elections Office no later than 5 p.m. on Tues., May 27. A postmark is not acceptable.

By the way, if you send in anything by mail, don’t forget that postage rates change to 42 cents beginning May 12.

“Voting has never been easier or more convenient,” Slocum said. “Take advantage of these opportunities and make every effort to vote early.”

We’re still looking for over 500 more poll workers for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election.

Already a poll worker? Ask a friend or family member to join you!

You have to go to work that day? No problem! Sign up to be a Poll Opening and/or Closing Technician instead. These positions occur before the polls open and after the polls closed, so it shouldn’t interfere with work hours for anyone having to report in between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Aren’t old enough to vote? Become a student poll worker! We are still accepting applications for students over the age of 16, who have at least a 2.5 GPA, and receive school and parent/guardian consent.

For more information about poll worker opportunities, visit our website at http://www.shapethefuture.org/poll_workers/helpwanted.asp or call 650-312-5222. While you’re applying, sign up for training. It’s all available online and over the phone!

It’s Election Day: Do you know where your ballot is?

Hopefully, the ballot is not still in your hands. Today at 8 p.m. is the deadline for any voters wanting to participate in the Portola Valley Elementary School District All-Mail Election. If the Elections Office doesn’t have your ballot by 8 p.m., it won’t count.

If you haven’t mailed in your ballot yet - stop! Don’t go to the post office; postmarks don’t count.

In an all-mail election, polling places are not open on Election Day. If voters still want to participate, ballots will have to be dropped off at one of the San Mateo County Universal Voting Centers located at:

40 Tower Road, San Mateo
555 County Center, Redwood City

If you’ve already submitted your Vote by Mail ballot, you can track and confirm your ballot receipt status by going onto www.shapethefuture.org. There, you can see when we mailed your ballot to you, and when we received it back.

While you’re on the website, make a bookmark so that you can go back to site easily later on tonight. At 8:05 p.m., we’ll be posting the first batch of semi-official results for the election on our results portal.

Poll worker classes for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election begin tomorrow, but resources are available now to anyone wishing to brush up on Elections Operations ahead of schedule. On the Elections website, www.shapethefuture.org, are a number of poll worker tools that can aid in the preparation of Election Day.

In addition to online training registration and schedule availability, various handbooks are available such as the Election Officer Handbook, eSlate Operations Guide, and the Opening and Closing flip books. Past issues of the POLLcat, the Poll Worker newsletter that includes news and event information as well as useful operations tips, can also be found on the Poll Worker resource page.

Other information available online includes candidate guidelines, political party descriptions, sample ballot and voter information pamphlets, and voter registration options.

Over 500 poll workers are still needed for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election.  We need your help spreading the word!

We know it’s a long day, but your help is essential in maintaining the integrity of the San Mateo County elections process.  Being a part of the elections process has made some great memories for some of our current poll workers.  Share the experience by inviting a friend or family member to join you on Election Day!

There are a couple ways to register: 1) go online to www.shapethefuture.org, 2) call 650-286-2810, or 3) send an email to pollworkertraining@smcare.org.

Monday marked the beginning of Logic and Accuracy testing in preparation for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary. Unlike May’s L&A testing process, which took less than a day to complete, L&A testing for June is expected to last about six to ten days.

We know that we’ve told you before what L&A testing is all about, but it’s a process that is vital to the transparency and accuracy of the whole election process. So we’re going to tell you about it again.

Designed to ensure that the hardware and software used in the election works correctly, L&A testing verifies that everything operates properly both as individual units and as a combined system.

How does this process work exactly ? L&A testing is split into two basic portions. The first portion of L&A tests the accuracy of the eSlate voting system that is used by voters at the two Universal Voting Centers (one at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo and the other at 555 County Center, 1st Floor, Redwood City) and at the polls on Election Day.

After the first portion of testing is complete, L&A then focuses on the BallotNow machines – machines that are used to tabulate paper ballots. These tests are conducted to make sure that the end results of the tabulation match what was actually voted. The Elections staff will mark “test” ballots with predetermined votes so that every candidate and contest is voted for at least once in varying vote combinations on the test ballots during this process. We even throw in some write-in votes, under-votes, and over-votes to truly reflect what may actually happen when voters make their choices on Election Day.

So what’s the big deal about L&A testing, and why is June’s testing so different from May’s process?

L&A testing for May’s election took less than a day to complete; we only tested all of two eSlate machines and a small set of ballots (only one contest is on the ballot). Because the May 6 Portola Valley Elementary School District Election is an all-mail election, eSlate machines will only be available at the two Universal Voting Centers.

June is a different story. For the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election, there will be 660 different ballot styles (220 individual ballot styles in three different languages). The L&A testing process will require more than 15 staff exclusively dedicated to the testing process.

Why so many ballot styles? Don’t forget – there are six political parties: the American Independent, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and Republican parties. Each of the six parties offers a different set of options for party voters. Voters who are registered as Decline to State voters also have the ability to vote either American Independent, Democratic, or Republican. With almost 450 voting precincts, about nine party styles per precinct, and three different languages (Chinese, English, and Spanish), the numbers seriously add up.

While the main purpose of L&A testing is to reconfirm the accuracy of the voting process, it also serves another function: to help the public have more confidence in the system.

Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum stated, “Election processes must be open and transparent in order to instill public confidence. We encourage the participation of observers in the L&A process and we dedicate staff to answer questions that observers may have as they watch the process. We also publish an ‘Election Observer’s Guide’ to educate observers as to the steps involved in various election processes and that publication is also posted on our website, www.shapethefuture.org. The more transparency we can give our processes, the more confidence we hope that people will have in their democracy.”

If you’re tired of reading about L&A testing and want to see what all the fuss is about in person, give the Elections Office a call at (650) 312-5222; any member of the public is welcome to observe. Like we said, it is all about openness and transparency.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out Wild 94.9’s “Keyword:Community” program yesterday, check out the podcast now available for download or streaming by clicking here. We’re on the program dated April 20.

San Mateo County’s democracyLIVE! Coordinator sat in with Wild 94.9’s Jon Manuel and Anna Uribe to talk about how high school students can get involved with the elections process by joining the student poll worker program.

If you haven’t read our previous posts, the program was designed to offer students a hands-on experience that provides an inside look at how American democracy works.

To learn more about how to participate in democracyLIVE!, contact our democracyLIVE! Coordinator by sending an email or calling 650-599-1335. You can also visit the Elections website at www.shapethefuture.org/democracylive.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a day off school, make some money, maybe log in a few community service hours, but learn at the same time? Guess what - you can! Join democracyLIVE!, San Mateo County’s student poll worker program, and do your part for the community.

California established the student poll worker program in 1996 in an effort to get high school seniors involved in the community while getting an inside look at democracy in action. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expanded the program by allowing students aged 16 and up with at least a 2.5 grade point average to serve as poll workers.

During the February 3 Presidential Primary Election, almost 500 students from schools throughout the Peninsula area took part in this program. Participation averaged 15 students per school, with a few notable exceptions.

Most notable is Woodside High School, where 33 students took part in the program. Woodside High School has participated in democracyLIVE! since its inception in 2005, and interest in the program has reached an all-time high at this school.

Economics teacher Wendy Porter, who assisted coordination of the program at Woodside High School believes that the heightened participation may be due specifically to the overall interest in the Presidential election cycle, but also believes that there may be an increased awareness of social responsibility.

“When you ask [the students] about it, they’re positive about the connection with the community,” Porter said. “There’s that sense of empowerment of students not just sitting there and waiting for adults to tell them what to do, but helping them.”

The Elections Office opted not to ask schools to support the program for the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election to prevent any issues from arising due to school absences. With all the elections going on this year, it made sense to us to not ask students to partake in an election that would likely get little action at the polls.

With poll worker recruitment just around the corner for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election, we’re going full force with publicity efforts.

Wild 94.9 (KYLD), a Clear Channel radio station in San Francisco, is featuring the program in a special interview being aired on April 20. Our democracyLIVE! Coordinator had the opportunity to sit in with Jon Manuel and Anna Uribe to talk about democracyLIVE! and how students and the community both benefit from this great program. They’re also showing their support of democracyLIVE! by airing special public service announcements throughout the week, encouraging students to sign up for this unique learning experience. Listen to Wild 94.9’s Jon Manuel’s Keyword Community program on April 20 from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to check out our interview! The Keyword Community program airs every Sunday.

democracyLIVE! can also be found on MySpace and Facebook, which are social networking web sites offering an interactive online experience. By maintaining a democracyLIVE! page on each of these sites, we’re utilizing an online version of word of mouth promotion.

Schools county-wide have already expressed their interest in supporting the democracyLIVE! for its fourth election running. However, because most of the county’s schools will also be in the midst of finals and graduation ceremonies, the turnout is not likely to reach the same heights as February. But support is not limited solely to actually working the polls. What’s important is that people understand what the democracyLIVE! program is about and that students remember its message when voting becomes a reality and the ability to contribute to the community is that much stronger.

Saad Abu-Dagen, a student at Burlingame High School, said of the program:

Working as a student poll worker was an exhilarating experience. It taught me a lot about the voting process and about people in general. I believe this experience will aid me throughout life and this November when I vote in the Presidential Election. When I filled out the paperwork to volunteer, I thought about what I was getting into and I realized that I would be given responsibilities that are dire to this country…I was to be trusted with information I held in my hands and that made me feel important; the fact that I was in charge of a part of a political election makes me wonder what else I could do to help my community/government.

The dust is barely settling from the April 4 Special Congressional Open Primary Election and yet the deadline to register to vote for the May 6 Portola Valley Elementary School District All-Mail Election already looms near.

The Portola Valley Elementary School District Election is being conducted to fill the vacant seat on the governing board. The certified list of candidates appearing on the May 6 ballot can be found on the San Mateo County Elections website in the box dedicated to the May 6 Portola Valley Elementary School District Election.

When we said this was going to be a busy election year, we weren’t kidding! Early voting began on April 7, one day before the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election. But at least this election is an all-mail election, which will protect the Portola Valley Elementary School District from the ginormous bill like the one associated with the April 8 election with which San Mateo County got stuck.

How ginormous, you ask?

Only 17,595 voters in San Mateo County’s portion of the 12th Congressional District bothered to vote at the polls at a cost of $26.70 per voter. With a total turnout of 25.9 percent, at least we can take a little comfort in the fact that the other 73 percent of voters who turned in a ballot chose to vote by mail. That decision saved about $15.10 per voter.

What accounts for the difference in cost? The precinct operations required the recruitment, training and placement of more than 1,000 poll workers, 32 field technicians and 32 ride along coordinators to provide technical assistance in the field, 59 poll opening/closing technicians, and the delivery and retrieval of 2,128 pieces of equipment to 164 polling locations to provide 17,595 voters in 317 precincts their right to vote on Election Day in San Mateo County.

Now, that’s not to say that we didn’t try to save some money. With the support of our county Board of Supervisors, we did make a bid to make the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary an all-mail election. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough political backing to see the bid through. As the San Mateo Daily News said, “Mail-only special election idea dies: Political support lacking for the cost-saving move to fill Lantos’ empty seat.”

But enough lamenting on money spent – let’s focus instead on how voters in the Portola Valley Elementary School District’s All-Mail Election will save time and help save the district a whole bunch of money by sending in their ballots by mail.

“Voting by mail simplifies a voter’s life,” said Warren Slocum, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer. “Voters can decide when and where they want to vote. They can vote at work, at the kitchen table, or with a cup of coffee on Saturday morning!”

“Not only is it good for voters, it’s good for the Elections Office and the sponsoring jurisdiction. Election costs are less, turnout is higher, and simplifying the process saves a lot of time. Voters in this election will have 29 days to decide and vote and can return their ballot anytime in this period,” explained Slocum. “What could be more flexible?”

My alarm clock is a good little friend. It’s patient, enduring and doesn’t give up on me – even when I get upset and threaten to throw it against a wall.

My little clock’s dreams for me finally came to fruition when I woke up right at 5 a.m. But truth be told, I didn’t really wake up for my clock’s sake. The fact that today is Election Day and I had to get to the polls to help set up was definitely an influential factor.

As a voter, I’ve often taken for granted the work that goes into putting together an election. I usually just show up at the polls, vote my ballot, and go on my merry way. Being on the other side has definitely put things into perspective. If you’ve read our earlier posts, you know that we started working on today’s election back in February.

Sample ballots have to be designed and written, poll workers have to be trained, equipment has to be tested…and it all culminates into one big final exam at the end of the preparation period where all the weeks of work are tested by poll workers’ ability to get the polling places up and running by 7 a.m. To get the polls running, a slew of task items have to be checked off, like:

• Posting the Flag
• Assembling the eSlates and other electronic voting equipment
• Putting together regular voting booths
• Unpacking the supply case
• Confirming the correct supplies were delivered
• Setting up the voter rosters
• Reviewing and signing of seals, locks and logs
• Administering the “Oath of Election Officers”

With only an hour to prepare for 13 hours of polling place voting, the set up period can be more than a little hectic. Combine that with the fact that this all began 44 minutes before sunrise today didn’t make it that much easier to digest. But even as a self-described night person who doesn’t believe in getting up before the sun, there’s something immensely satisfying about being a part of the whole election process. For three elections in a row, I’ve shown up to my assigned polling place with a foggy mind and eyes crusted from sleep only to be energized when I see the American flag posted at the entryway.

I know I’m not the only person who gets excited about being a part of an election. San Mateo County has more than 1,000 poll workers for this election dedicated to actively preserving the democracy of our community. Some of them have been around for years; Evelyn Kaplan, an Inspector at Highlands Elementary School in San Mateo, has been a poll worker since 1964.

Sure, the hours are daunting and the work is challenging, but the swelling pride in my chest from being able to say that I took part in a process so crucial to our society – that’s the true reward.

So to all the poll workers out there today, I salute you for your efforts and thank you for helping preserve one of the most important rituals of our society.