Redwood City CA - San Mateo County's Chief Elections Officer, Warren Slocum , announced today that his office has topped 100,000 permanent absentee ballot requests – a new record for San Mateo County . “I am encouraged and enthusiastic about reaching this milestone,” Slocum stated, “this clearly demonstrates that voters in San Mateo County are active and engaged in the elections process at a very high level – it’s tremendous.”

The high number of absentee requests, fully 30% of the County’s registered voters, is due to several factors, including a change in the law that allows any voter to become a Permanent Absentee voter and an aggressive public awareness campaign by the Elections Division. Slocum points out that absentee voters have a remarkably high turnout rate, which boosts overall turnout, and leads to greater participation, “which is one of the primary goals of our office, and a great incentive to continue our outreach efforts.” Slocum continued, “Our work is not yet complete – we will continue to promote our absentee program right up to the October 26 deadline for submitting requests by mail, fax, or online. One hundred thousand is a nice benchmark, but we can do even better.”

The ballots will roll out of the Elections warehouse Monday, and find their way to voters’ mailboxes all over the world in the next three weeks. Some voters can expect to receive their absentee ballots as early as Tuesday.

The Elections Division has worked closely with the Regional Office of the United States Postal Service to ensure that election material, and especially absentee ballots, are processed with greater awareness given the time-sensitive nature of the material and the importance of safeguarding the voting franchise for all eligible voters. “This election promises to be one of the most closely-watched and closely-contested in our nation’s history,” said Slocum, “and we are committed to the integrity and expediency of the absentee ballot system.” Elections staff will remain in close contact with the post office, community organizations, voters, and local elections officials throughout the election to ensure trouble free absentee voting for San Mateo County citizens.

Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters beginning next week, Monday, October 4, 2004 and applications to vote by mail will continue to be accepted through Tuesday, October 26. Voter registration for the General Election will close on Monday, October 18.