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

Alternate
David Tom
Phone: (650) 312-5222 E-mail: dtom@smcare.org
Web: www.shapethefuture.org   www.smcare.org

Sample Ballots Headed For Voters’ Mailboxes

November 7th Gubernatorial General only five weeks away

(Redwood City, CA) The Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlets will be mailed to the 346,776 (+) voters of San Mateo County over the course of a week beginning on Friday, October 6th. Every voter will receive their own personal copy for the November 7th Gubernatorial General Election. “I want to encourage every voter to take the time to review the material, make your choices and bring your marked Sample Ballot to the polls on Election Day,” said Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum.

The San Mateo County Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet publication contains a sample of the voter’s specific ballot, the published statements of local candidates who placed (purchased) a 200-word candidate statement, certain state office seeker 250-word candidate statements (those who agreed to abide by the contribution limit), and all local ballot measures and the related impartial analyses, arguments for and against and rebuttals to the arguments. Voters will receive their personal ballot, one of 58 different versions of the San Mateo County ballot. To review a list of all the local candidates and measures on the entire county ballot, go to www.shapethefuture.org .

According to Slocum, the November ballot is a long one requiring two ballot cards. There are 10 Federal Candidates, 53 State Candidates (including the Judicial contests), 13 State Propositions, 74 Local Candidates and 15 Local Measures on the November 7th ballot. “Voters will have lots of decisions to make in November. One of the ways that we help educate voters is by publishing and distributing the Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet to them,” Slocum added.

“The Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet is an excellent source for fair, free, source-originated information about the local issues on the ballot and many of the local candidates,” Slocum explained.

This November’s San Mateo County Sample Ballot information is also online at www.shapethefuture.org/elections, the Elections website, and may be printed from the Internet for use in the classroom or to help promote political discussions at house parties.

The San Mateo County Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet is available in English, Spanish or Chinese; voters may request all of their election materials in any of these languages either at the time they register to vote or at anytime thereafter.

Visually impaired voters can request a copy of the county Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Guide on audio tape. “As a practice, we make voting as accessible as possible so that everyone has a voice in the democratic process,” said Slocum.

In addition to the county’s Sample Ballot, voters can expect to receive the State Voter Information Guide in the mail as well. One State Voter Information Guide will be sent per household. The state typically mails the Voter Information Guide three to four weeks in advance of the election. The primary components of the guide are the state propositions (title and summary, analysis, arguments for and against and text of the proposed law) and candidate statements for candidates seeking statewide office who submitted statements for publication in the guide. The Voter Information Guide is available on the Secretary of State’s website at www.voterguide.SOS.ca.gov.

If you have any questions regarding the county’s Sample Ballot delivery schedule, may call the Elections Division at (650) 312-5222 or email registrar@smcare.org.