Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

April 11, 2008

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

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

Dismal Election Turnout – 25.9%; Pricetag - $1 Million
It’s time to revisit Vote by Mail for the conduct of all special elections

Redwood City, CA – Now that Rep. Jackie Speier has been sworn in as the newly elected representative in the 12th Congressional District, it is time to review the statistics of this special election.

Turnout was dismal in both San Mateo County and the City and County of San Francisco. San Mateo County had a turnout of 25.9 percent; the City and County of San Francisco had a turnout of 24.7 percent.

Those that voted — voted by mail! Vote by Mail turnout was approximately 73 percent in both San Mateo County and in the City and County of San Francisco.

Only 27 percent of the voters who bothered to vote went to the polls to do so. In real numbers, there were 17,595 votes cast at the polls in San Mateo County and 5,202 votes cast at the polls in City and County of San Francisco.

"We will spend a million dollars to conduct an election that could have been held for less than half this money all because there is no enabling legislation to allow counties to conduct special elections by mail," the frustrated Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer for the County of San Mateo, explained.

In San Mateo County, the cost works out to a whopping $26.70 per precinct voter.

"It’s outrageous. If we charged the cities a per voter cost of $26.70 per precinct voter, they would probably sue us," said Slocum.

The cost per mail voter isn’t cheap, but it’s a bargain by comparison. In San Mateo County, the cost will be about $11.60 per mail voter.

"This is wasteful spending—the polling places in both counties served less than 7 percent of the voters in the 12th congressional district," Slocum continued.

What accounts for the difference in cost? The precinct operations required the recruitment, training and placement of more than 1,000 poll workers, 32 field technicians and 32 ride-along-coordinators to provide technical assistance in the field, 59 poll opening/closing technicians, and the delivery and retrieval of 2,128 pieces of equipment to 164 polling locations to provide 17,595 voters in 317 precincts their right to vote on Election Day in San Mateo County.

Another unintended consequence of low turnout special elections is that it makes for one incredibly long and boring day for poll workers. Many precincts did not see 50 voters in the thirteen hours that that they were open. And that includes those voters who dropped off their voted mail ballot. That’s slightly less than four (4) voters per hour.

"Recruiting poll workers to work in subsequent elections gets tougher and tougher," said Slocum. "It’s actually one of the more difficult tasks that we’re faced with—and today’s poll workers need to be more savvy and more technically competent than ever before. Ask any chief elections officer in the state of California or in the country. It’s a common problem.”

"We simply cannot afford to conduct special elections like regular elections," Slocum continued.
" The federal and state governments do not provide any funding to cover these election costs and even if they did, the funds should not be wasted in this manner when there are viable alternatives that promote voting for less than half the cost. This is a disgrace."

In sum, legislation granting counties the authority to conduct special elections by mail is long overdue. San Mateo County will continue its efforts to support and draft legislation to all local government to have a choice in conducting special elections by mail.

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