Elections Office reminds voters of mail deadline

April 01, 2008
Bay City News Service

The San Mateo County Elections Office is reminding residents who plan to vote by mail in the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary for the 12th Congressional District that their request for a ballot must be received by the Elections Office by Tuesday.

Requests can be made by mail, fax or online through 5 p.m. Tuesday, and will have to be made in person at the Elections Office, 40 Tower Road in San Mateo, after that time.

“I want to encourage every voter that would like to vote by mail to sign up today,” San Mateo County Elections Officer Warren Slocum said. “About 23 percent of San Mateo County’s voters have already opted for a Vote by Mail ballot this election.’’

The special election will be held to select a congressional representative to serve the remainder of the late Congressman Tom Lantos’ term, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office.

San Francisco residents whose homes are located in the 12th Congressional District need to request a Vote by Mail ballot from the San Francisco Department of Elections by Tuesday as well.

Lantos, 80, was diagnosed with cancer in late December and announced he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 2 but committed to serving the rest of his 14th term through December.

Lantos died Feb. 11 at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland due to complications from esophageal cancer.

Lantos, D-San Mateo, was the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress and served as a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He was the founding co-chairman of the 24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus and was elected chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007, according to a spokeswoman.

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