Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections
April 24, 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
Mailing of Statewide Direct Primary Sample Ballot Pamphlets Begins Today!
June 3 Primary is less than six weeks away
Redwood City, CA - The Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlets will be mailed to the 357,437 voters of San Mateo County beginning on Thursday, April 24 and concluding the week of May 12. Every voter will receive their own personal copy for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election. "I want to encourage every voter to take the time to review the material, make your choice 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 with the congressional, state assembly and state senate candidates of their chosen party (American Independent, Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Peace & Freedom, or Republican), and superior court judges, local nonpartisan offices, statewide propositions and local ballot measures, if their jurisdiction placed a measure before the voters.
In California, each political party decides whether they will allow Decline to State voters to vote in their party’s primary election. For this election, the American Independent, Democratic and Republican Parties have chosen to permit Decline to State voters to participate in their primary election. Therefore, Decline to State Voters, or those voters who are unaffiliated with any political party, will be mailed a sample ballot that contains four ballot versions for their consideration, a nonpartisan sample ballot, an American Independent Party sample ballot, a Democratic Party sample ballot and a Republican Party sample ballot. Today, Decline to State voters number 81,639 and are the third largest group of voters in the County, nearly edging past the Republican Party in size.
According to Slocum, the June ballot will be a long one. "Voters will have to do their homework before heading to the polls in June; this is a critical election with some very important local issues to decide. The hotly contested open seat in the Assembly will probably spark the most interest.” One of the ways that the Elections Office helps to educate voters is by publishing and distributing the Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet to every registered voter.
The San Mateo County Sample Ballot & Official Voter Information Pamphlet is available in English, Spanish or Chinese; voters who prefer Chinese or Spanish language election materials may request them 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 will receive the State Voter Information Guide in the mail. One State Voter Information Guide will be sent per household. The state typically mails the Voter Information Guide six to eight 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 federal office who submitted statements for publication in the guide. The Voter Information Guide is available on the Secretary of State's website in a pdf format in a variety of languages at www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov.
If you have any questions regarding the county's Sample Ballot delivery schedule, please call the Elections Division at (650) 312-5222 or email registrar@smcare.org.
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