Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

January 23, 2008

Contact:
Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer
Phone: (650) 363-4988 E-mail: wslocum@smcare.org

Aternate:
David Tom, Elections Manager
Phone: (650) 312-5222 E-mail: dtom@smcare.org

Opening and Processing of Voted Vote-by-Mail Ballots begins Friday
Observers welcome to watch procedure at Elections Office starting Jan. 25

Redwood City, CA – As the Feb. 5 Presidential Primary nears, the San Mateo County Elections Office will begin opening and processing returned Vote by Mail ballots beginning Jan. 25, a procedure the public is invited to observe. California Elections Code allows jurisdictions to begin processing Vote by Mail ballots seven business days prior to an election. Under the law, Vote by Mail ballot envelopes can be opened, ballots can be removed, damaged ballots can be duplicated, optical scanners can be prepared for reading ballots and ballots can be machine-read. But vote counts can not be accessed or released until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

The opening and processing of returned Vote by Mail ballots will commence at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Friday at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo and will continue in the days following until every vote has been counted. “Early opening of Vote by Mail ballot envelopes allows us to get a head start on the processing of hundreds of thousands of votes,” San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum said. “It allows us to bring you fast results on Election Night as well. Our first results are available on our Web site five minutes after the polls close.”

As of Jan. 22, nearly 29,600 voted Vote by Mail ballots were received at the Elections Office, a number that is expected to increase substantially in the coming days. More than 151,000 Vote by Mail ballots have been requested to date, representing almost 43 percent of San Mateo County’s registered voters. Voters have until Jan. 29 to request a Vote by Mail ballot for delivery by mail. Vote by Mail ballots can still be picked up in person through Election Day at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo or at 555 County Center in Redwood City from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays Jan. 26 or Feb. 3.

Since Jan. 7, the Elections Office has been receiving and processing Vote by Mail ballot envelopes. During envelope processing, the exterior security flap on the envelope is removed and a voter’s signature and address hidden underneath are checked against his or her voter registration file. Envelopes are accepted if everything matches, but they remain unopened until seven business days prior to the election.

Voters can check whether the Elections Office received their voted Vote by Mail ballot by using the Track & Confirm feature on www.shapethefuture.org. Voters whose ballot envelopes were rejected for lack of a signature or other incorrect or missing information will be notified.

Members of the public wishing to observe the opening and counting of voted Vote by Mail ballots should contact Elections Supervisor Narda Garcia at (650) 312-5365 or ngarcia@smcare.org to arrange their visit.

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