Redwood City CA - The deadline to register to vote in the March 2 deadline closed last Tuesday, February 17 and San Mateo County's voter rolls are showing 330,179 eligible voters for the March 2 Presidential Primary Election, an increase of 14,991 voters since the 2000 Presidential Primary Election.

The largest age group of registered voters, showing 70,604 participants, is 65 and over. The next largest group comes in at 52,158, with voters ranging from age 56 to 65, and the third largest group at 51,047 voters ages 23 to 35. San Mateo's youngest voters, ranging in age from 18 to 24 reflect 19,190 registered participants. A breakdown of the current registration by age is attached.

San Mateo County's Chief Elections Officer, Warren Slocum , is reminding new voters the Help America Vote Act may call for a different procedure than usual at the polling places. "HAVA states that first-time voters who registered to vote by mail must have provided identification when registering or voting. Our records indicate we have 1,150 of these first-time voters, with the majority, 407, being in our youngest group of registrants."

"We have tried to make understanding this new law easy for our first-time voters," said Slocum. "We recently sent a special letter to the first-time voters who must provide some type of identification when voting to help them be aware of what they will need to do on Election Day."

"Our polling place workers are trained and ready to help voters understand this new process," continued Slocum. "Staff is available on the telephone and through our web's "Vote Talk" where voters can chat live with election staff and have their questions answered right away. Informing our voters of new laws and voting procedures is one of our highest priorities. First time voters need to know about this new law so that their vote will count on Election Day. All voters, especially first time voters, deserve a positive experience at the polls to keep them active in our democracy."

For more information on registering to vote, absentee voting, becoming a poll worker, election results or general election information, visit www.shapethefuture.org or call (650) 312-5222.