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

lternate
David Tom
Phone: 650.312.5301 Fax: 650.312.5348 E-mai:l dtom@smcare.org

San Mateo County eSlates Used for Vote at LegiSchool Project
Student voters gave Angelides the win in a close vote—the system was easy to use

(Redwood City, CA) Yesterday, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum and Andrew Wright from Hart Intercivic traveled with seven (7) eSlate electronic voting machines to Sacramento to provide the 200 students who were gathered at the Secretary of State’s Office for the LegiSchool Project the opportunity to cast their votes for in a mock election for governor. The vote took place following the hour-and-a-half debate among the gubernatorial candidate’s campaigns. The debate was driven by difficult questions posed by the student participants.

“It was great to see the students actively engaged in the democratic process and to listen to caliber of the questions they asked of the gubernatorial campaigns. It was enlightening to hear what their policy priorities and concerns are. These are our future voters; they are thoughtful, passionate and engaged. What an inspirational day!” Slocum mused.

“The kids were genuinely excited about the voting process and well-versed on local and state issues,” said Andrew Wright, Hart InterCivic executive.

The ballot consisted of just one contest—the gubernatorial contest. The results from the 150 students that participated in the election were as follows: Art Olivier/Libertarian - 2; Janice Jordan/Peace & Freedom - 2; Peter Miguel Camejo/Green -7; Edward C. Noonan/American Independent - 0; Phil Angelides/Democrat – 72; Arnold Schwartzenegger/Republican – 66. The results of the voting gave Angelides the win over Schwartzenegger. Hart InterCivic staff reported the results using the Tally report from the Hart InterCivic Judge’s Booth Controller (JBC).

Students were given 30-seconds of instruction from the Hart InterCivic staff on how to vote on the eSlates. “After you get your personal access code, just turn the Select Wheel and Press Enter to make your voting choice,” explained Paula Cardenas. “It’s just like using your iPod.”

Not one student had a problem, every machine performed perfectly and it only took 20 minutes for 150 of the students to vote their ballots. If there was any question about how easy it is to use the eSlate electronic voting system, it was erased yesterday as the students whizzed through the line without any problems.

The LegiSchool Project is a civic education collaboration between California State University, Sacramento, and the California State Legislature, administered by the Center for California Studies. The Project's mission is to engage California high school students in matters of public policy and state government by creating opportunities for students and state leaders to meet and share ideas on the issues affecting California. Students came from all over California to participate in this day-long event.

To learn more about this project, visit www.csus.edu/legischool