San Mateo County Press Release

Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

Contact:
Warren Slocum
Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Phone: (650) 363-4988 Fax: (650) 363-1903 E-mail: wslocum@smcare.org
Web: www.shapethefuture.org www.smcare.org

Alternate: David Tom, Phone: 650.312.5222 E-mail: dtom@smcare.org

June Primary Results Official

First Time in County History More Votes Cast by Mail than at the Polls

(Redwood City, CA) - San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum announced his certification of the official election results for the June 6, 2006 Gubernatorial Primary Election and presented the Board of Supervisors a certified copy of the Statement of the Vote for adoption at the Tuesday, June 27, 2006 board meeting.  Anyone can view the June 2006 Primary Election Statement of the Vote as it is available online at www.shapethefuture.org .  Those who wish to purchase a paper copy of the 692 page publication can purchase a copy for $40 from the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, CA 94402, or call (650) 312-5222.

What do the results of the June Primary reveal? Voter turnout was 36.8%.  Only 129,074 of the County’s 350,305 registered voters participated in the Primary Election.  Although quite low, turnout was comparable to the March 2002 Gubernatorial Primary (36.6%); turnout in the 1998 June Primary was 44.8%.

“What is most significant about the June 2006 Primary is this—for the first time ever, the majority of San Mateo County voters voted by mail instead of voting at the polls,” said Slocum.  “Absentee voters cast 56% of the votes in this election; precinct voters cast 43.6%; and, the rest were cast at Universal Voting Centers.”

“What is even more eye-opening is that this trend is not San Mateo County specific--it is statewide!” Slocum added.  Absentee voters outnumbered precinct voters in 31 California counties.  In Sonoma County, a whopping 71% of the June Primary voters cast their ballots by mail.  The statewide absentee voting average was 49.26% for the June Primary.  More than 2.2 million voters statewide (14%) are permanent absentee voters. (2,206,631).

“Right now, there are 124,113 voters on the Permanent Absentee Voter rolls in San Mateo County and it grows daily,” Slocum continued.   “Voters are voting with postage stamps, instead of gas tanks and tennis shoes,” said Slocum. 

In a focus group held last year, the Chief Elections Officer queried voters on a number of issues related to voting by mail.  The number one reason that voters indicated their preference for voting by mail was convenience.  “When voters choose to vote by mail, they pick the day, the time, and the place to make their ballot choices.  They don’t rush home from work, they don’t have to tend children while they vote at the polls, they don’t have to ask a neighbor or friend to drive them to the polls, and they can take all the time they want.  They can vote part of the ballot, put it away and finish voting days later.  They can vote from home, from work, on the road, day or night, and have every confidence that their voting was deliberate and their votes were counted.  It’s the convenience factor,” said Slocum.

Since the law changed in 2001, any registered voter may sign up to become a permanent absentee voter.  They can write a letter to the Elections Office, sign up online at www.shapethefuture.org or call the Elections Office to request an application, (650) 312-5222.  A permanent absentee voter application is now a standard part of the Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Guide that is mailed to all voters prior to the election.  Voter Registration forms allow voters to choose this option when they register, too.  “We try to make it easy for voters to sign up.  It’s a win-win program for everyone,” said Slocum.