About the Study:

This research was commissioned by the Registration & Elections Division and was independently conducted by the California Civic Engagement Project.

The goals of this research include generating critical insight on how these challenges and opportunities vary across the 2018 Primary and General Elections and to inform the effective implementation of the Voter’s Choice Act (VCA). The study’s findings will aid San Mateo County’s continued implementation the VCA model to implement effective voter education efforts in future elections in order to achieve greater and more demographically-representative engagement in the electoral process.

Data collection for the study includes analysis of voter registration files, county election budgets, and Vote Center exit surveys from the 2018 Primary and General Elections. The 2018 Primary and General voter data used in this analysis is the San Mateo County voter registration database, commonly referred to as the “voter file” from two sources: San Mateo County and Political Data, Inc. (PDI). San Mateo County provided extracts of its voter registration file from the Primary and General Elections. Political Data, Inc. provided voter registration files from July 2018 and February 2019 with additional attributes identified, including race and ethnicity, age, gender, nativity and party affiliation of the registrant.

A Vote Center exit survey was conducted with a random sample of voters using randomly selected San Mateo County Vote Centers in the 2018 General Election. Data were weighted to ensure a representative sample by race/ethnicity and age with a total sample size of 1,316 voters. Finally, the San Mateo County Elections Office provided cost data for the Primary and General Elections.