First-time voter registrations take a bit longer to process compared to updates or changes to current voter registration requests. Why? Because registration requests from people who register to vote within the County for the first time have to go through a system called “CalValidator” before their registration is considered complete.
What is CalValidator?
Let’s start from the beginning. On the Voter Registration Card are areas to input your California Drivers’ License/State ID number and the last four digits of your Social Security Number. We only need one of those numbers, but both is fine too.
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Are you registered as a nonpartisan or an Independent? Be careful with this question, because there are two totally different answers.
A new voter registration card is being phased in as the current supply dwindles in an effort to curb party affiliation confusion. According to an article published yesterday by the AP, “Secretary of State Debra Bowen says some voters complained that they accidentally registered with the American Independent Party when they intended to register as nonpartisan.” You can take a look at a sample of the new voter registration card by clicking here.
So what’s the difference between the two answers? Well, if you don’t want to register with a specific party, then you have to choose the “Decline to State” option on the voter registration card. Selecting this option means that you are nonpartisan; you won’t be affiliated with a political party. Our records show that 82,805 voters are registered as Decline to State in San Mateo County as of July 18.
If you happen to select “American Independent,” you are actually officially registering to be affiliated with the American Independent Party.
According to the American Independent party statement in the Easy Voter Guide, a nonpartisan publication designed to provide quick elections information in a variety of languages, the party “stands for traditional moral values and the God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This party believes government should uphold the United States Constitution, including protection of life and property, and provide a strong national defense, free of waste.” The top priorities, as listed in the Easy Voter Guide, are to end illegal immigration, balance the state budget, and address levee repairs and state water problems.
To help you learn more about the different political parties, we’ve put together an excerpt of this guide and published it on Shape The Future. You can download the political party excerpt by clicking here.
Bottom line: When you register, or re-register, before October 20 to vote in the November Presidential General election, make sure to fill out your voter registration card carefully.
Posted in Campaigns/Political parties, Elections Office, Shape the Future, Voter registration
Tagged American Independent Party, California Secretary of State, California voter registration, Decline to State, new voter registration cards, political parties, Secretary of State, Voter registration
After every election, the Elections Office conducts the Official Canvass and Manual Tally. Once the Official Canvass is complete, the results are certified and a Statement of the Vote is published.
But that’s not the end of the road.
Every county must submit their respective Manual Tally findings to the California Secretary of State — currently Debra Bowen. According to the Secretary of State website, “The report must identify any discrepancies (i.e., variances) between the machine tally and the manual tally and must provide a description of how each of these variances was resolved.”
According to David Tom, San Mateo County Elections Manager, “These reports are another way to assure voting systems are functioning properly for each election. But most importantly, they make elections more transparent and help instill voter confidence.”
For those that love reading about codes, you can read more about this particular Elections requirement by reviewing Elections Code 15360(e).
While there is no specific deadline for submitting the Manual Tally report, the Secretary of State has asked that the report be sent with the certification of the election. San Mateo County certified results and published the June Statewide Direct Primary Statement of the Vote on June 26 — well before the 29 day deadline.
If a Manual Tally Report is not submitted in conjunction, it won’t delay the certification of election results. The Secretary of State has created a web page to track and post copies of each county’s report. Because the Official Canvass deadline was fairly recent, the page has not yet been updated to reflect the June Statewide Direct Primary reports. However, those that want to take a look at the county findings from the February Presidential Primary Election can download pdfs of the various reports. Keep http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/manual_count_reports.htm bookmarked so that you can check back for future updates!
And while you’re waiting, click here to take a look at the San Mateo County June Manual Tally report.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen issued new regulations governing the use our electronic voting machines – Hart InterCivic’s eSlates – and they’re generating some questions here and throughout the state.
August saw a major overhaul to rules governing the use of our eSlates in order to enhance public confidence in the integrity of their vote. Thirty six new requirements – the result of a Top to Bottom Review- and were plenty to undertake, and we’ve been working hard to ensure they’re all implemented come the Presidential Primary on Feb. 5.
But revisions to those requirements for using our eSlate system were released last Thursday, raising a few eyebrows in the trenches. We’re particularly befuddled and concerned by one new addition:
The vendor’s plan must require jurisdictions that use more than one eSlate per precinct to permanently assign each precinct a set of of JBC and eSlate devices, identified by serial number, for use in all elections, taking into account equipment replacement needs and precinct consolidations.
In plain English, this means that each of our 2,100 eSlates and associated pieces of equipment – like the JBCs, or Judge’s Booth Controllers, which poll workers use to operate the eSlates – will each have to forever be assigned to a specific polling place on Election Day. In total we have more than 4,700 pieces of electronic voting equipment. Currently, we move machines and associated equipment – particularly the printers on the eSlates - around among our county’s 460 precincts, depending on election need.
If a machine has a problem at a polling place, a general pool of spare equipment that can be deployed anywhere it’s needed would no longer suffice. That’s how we handled technical issues in the Nov. 6 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District Election. The county would have to have enough spare machines on hand to permanently assign each precinct its own. And that probably means buying a whole mess of new machines.
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