Tag Archives: ballot

Updated Mailing Schedule for the Sample Ballot

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Kriselle Laran| 1 Comment

Over 55% of voters should receive their Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet in the mail by tomorrow if they haven’t already received it, according to our mailing schedule.

Beginning Fri., Sept. 26, tens of thousands of booklets have been dropped off at various County post offices for delivery to voters.  Because of precinct borders, residents in some cities will receive the booklets before their neighbors.

The Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet has been broken down into 65 ballot styles.  Ballot styles encompass each area that the included contests affect.  For example, in the City of San Mateo, it will take three different ballot styles to cover all the voting districts within the city lines.

Below is the schedule for mailed and projected mailing dates for the Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet of the Nov. 4 Presidential General Election.

For questions regarding this schedule, please feel free to contact the Elections Office at 650-312-5222.

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Posted in Ballots, Campaigns/Political parties, Elections Office, Polling place, Voting

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Two Card Ballot for Presidential General Election

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Kriselle Laran| Leave a comment

As we mentioned previously, Sample Ballots & Official Voter Information Pamphlets will hit voter mailboxes beginning Sept. 27.  Also coming soon? Official Ballots!

The early voting period for the Nov. 4 Presidential General Election begins Oct. 6.  On this day, Vote by Mail ballots will begin arriving in Vote by Mail voter mailboxes and the voting centers at 555 County Center in Redwood City and 40 Tower Road in San Mateo will be open for in-person voting.

One big difference between the ballots for this election and ballots from previous elections:  It’s a long ballot.

Every voting precinct has two ballot cards.  The ballot cards have contests printed on both sides of the paper, meaning that after you select your options on one side of one card, flip the card over for more options.  Make sure you take a look at both cards, so that you don’t miss the opportunity to vote on all the contests you want to vote on.

On the bottom of each ballot card is the statement “Vote on Both Sides.”  There was some concern about this phrase several elections ago that indicated possible confusion since there are two columns of text on one side of the card.  “Both sides” does not refer to both columns; it refers to the front “side” and the back “side” of the card.

To help curb confusion, we’ve also added the following phrase to the ballot card, at the end of the last column on the page: “Attention: This is a 2 card ballot.  Please vote all 4 sides (front and back) of the ballot.”

What does this mean for voters voting on the eSlate?  Obviously, there aren’t sides to a ballot on an electronic screen.  Instead of sides, there will be multiple screens of ballots to scroll through.  When you’re voting on the eSlate, pay attention to the instructions near the bottom of the screen, so that you know whether or not there are more screens with contests to vote on.

Questions about the ballot?  Call the Elections Office at (650) 312-5222!

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Posted in Ballots, Elections Office, Vote By Mail, Voting, eSlates, early voting

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Smooth Voting Takes Preparation

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Kriselle Laran| 1 Comment

Understanding your voting options can be hard enough during a regular election, but a Special Congressional Open Primary can be even more confusing. We want to make sure you’re prepared when you head to the polls tomorrow. Remember … smooth voting takes preparation.

Verify your registration status for voting in this election by visiting the San Mateo County Elections website. The deadline to register to vote in the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary was March 24.

While you’re online, confirm your polling place! Over 60 locations were changed prior to the Nov. 2007 election in order to comply with accessibility, electrical and space requirements. If you can’t make it to our website, check the back cover of your Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet. You can also find polling place info at the League of Women Voters website.

Brush up on how to vote. Instructions on how to use the eSlate voting machine can be found online, in the Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet, and at the polling place.

“This is a perfect opportunity for voters who have never voted on the eSlate voting system to do so!” said Slocum. “With only one contest on the ballot in the Special Congressional Open Primary Election, it takes very little time to vote. Voters who haven’t tried the eSlates as yet, will discover just how easy it is to use but shouldn’t hesitate asking for help if they need it,” Slocum said. “Our poll workers are more than happy to help!”

When you head to the polls, bring ID if you are a first-time voter. Over 30 forms of id will be accepted, including a driver’s license, state identification card, passport, student ID, government-issued check, or utility bill showing your name and address.

If you are a Vote by Mail voter, and you haven’t mailed in your ballot, plan to drop off your Vote by Mail ballot at the Elections Office or any polling place in San Mateo County within the 12th Congressional District. We can’t count your vote if it isn’t in on time, so drop it off in person at any of the following locations by 8 p.m. on Election Day:

Postmarks don’t count!

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Posted in Ballots, Campaigns/Political parties, Election Day/Night, Poll workers, Polling place, Shape the Future, Vote By Mail, Voter registration, Voting

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Last-minute tips before Election Day

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Rebekah Gordon| 1 Comment

At the George Hall Elementary School polling place on Election DayThe Tsunami is just hours away, with 22 24 states, including ours, set to conduct their presidential primaries on Tuesday. Before you make your choices, be sure you’ve got all those Election Day details straight. It will make your voting experience – and everyone else’s – a better one.

If you Vote by Mail:

Do not drop your ballot in the mail if it’s still in your possession. All ballots must be received at the Elections Office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Postmarks won’t cut it, so don’t push your luck with the postal service (last time we checked, they can’t do teleportation).

Many Vote by Mail voters are still hanging on to their ballots. (Read more about Vote by Mail in our previous post). As of today, we’ve only gotten back 46 percent of the nearly 158,000 we sent out. But that’s O.K. You’ve been asked to make some important decisions this election and, like many voters, you have been carefully weighing your options.

To ensure your vote is counted, drop your ballot off in person at one of the following locations between now and 8 p.m. on Tuesday:

    · Any city hall in San Mateo County during normal business hours, or

    · Any San Mateo County polling place on Election Day, between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. It doesn’t even have to be in your home precinct.

If over these last few weeks you managed to lose your Vote by Mail ballot, don’t fret. Go to the Elections Office to be issued another one, or go to any polling place on Election Day and you’ll be allowed to vote a provisional ballot.

If you vote at the polls:

Before you head out to vote, confirm your voter registration on our Web site.

Then confirm your polling place. To comply with accessibility requirements and the electrical and space requirements of our eSlates, more than 60 polling place locations were changed last year. Not everyone voted in the Nov. 6 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District Election, so the location changes many still surprise many of you.

Don’t be caught off guard. Check your polling place location:

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Posted in Ballots, Election Day/Night, Elections Office, Polling place, Vote By Mail, Voting

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Vote by Mail ballots arriving by the thousands. Where’s yours?

Posted on October 22, 2007 by Rebekah Gordon| 1 Comment

Every day at Elections headquarters on Tower Road, Vote by Mail ballots are being delivered by the bin from the U.S. Postal Service.  As of today, more than 17,000 have arrived to be counted, sorted and signature-checked in preparation for the vote.

Counting and sorting Vote by Mail ballots 

The busiest days for Vote by Mail ballot arrivals are Tuesdays, a likely result of people taking the time to vote and mail their ballot over the weekend. According to Lupe Sanchez, who oversees ballot processing, the Elections Office received nearly 4,300 ballots last Tuesday. Mondays are also busy, with about 3,400 ballots last Monday and nearly 2,500 today, but the volume typically tapers off by the end of the week. Just 1,800 ballots arrived on Friday.

Counting and sorting Vote by Mail ballots According to California Elections Code, Vote by Mail ballots can not be opened or counted until  seven days prior to Election Day. Until then, they’re held in a vaulted room. But there is still plenty to do, as each ballot must be counted, de-flapped (a fancy term for removing the extra envelope flap that covers your signature), sorted by precinct and the signature on the envelope checked against the voter’s registration form to ensure authenticity. (By the way, the Pitney Bowes Relia-Vote system we blogged about earlier will automate many of these processes).

So, with all these Vote by Mail ballots, where’s yours?

Maybe you’ve already returned your Vote by Mail ballot, so for that, we thank you. Or maybe you haven’t gotten around to it yet, in which case we encourage you to do so. Remember, your ballot must be received by the Elections Office no later than Election Day to be counted; postmarks are not accepted.

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Posted in Ballots, Elections Office, Signature verification, Vote By Mail, Voting

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Goodbye polling place, hello mailbox

Posted on October 17, 2007 by Rebekah Gordon| Leave a comment

Ballot drop-off box outside the Elections Office Some San Mateo County residents may have received a surprise in their mailbox over these last couple of days: a letter informing them that Election Day polling places in their precinct were going the way of the dinosaur, accompanied by a Vote By Mail ballot and a postage-paid envelope.

Huh?

If you got this letter, we’ll offer a full explanation here. And even if you didn’t, read on, as it’s important to know how elections are changing around you.

In order to know that we are conducting elections that comply with new standards and laws, the Elections Office conducted a review of every polling place and precinct boundary earlier this year. Some polling places were moved, some were combined with others and some were decommissioned altogether. As a result of this review, 56 of the county’s 563 precincts were designated as all mail ballot precincts.

Voters in those precincts will join more than 137,000 voters in San Mateo County who are already voluntarily registered to Vote By Mail. They represent almost 40 percent of registered voters. About half of all votes cast in the two major elections in 2006 were from Vote By Mail ballots.

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Posted in Ballots, Polling place, Vote By Mail, Voting

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