Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Assistant Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder

(Redwood City) Mark Church, San Mateo County’s Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, announced that Monday, May 7, 2018 is the first day of the voting period for the June 5, 2018 Statewide Direct Primary Election and the first day that Official Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in San Mateo County.

New Election Model for June 5, 2018
The June 5, 2018 Statewide Direct Primary Election will be the first election conducted under the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA).  The VCA will implement an All-Mailed Ballot/Vote Center model, with every registered voter receiving a Vote-by-Mail ballot through the mail.  The Vote-by-Mail ballot may be returned by mail postage prepaid, dropped off at any Vote Center or Ballot Drop-off Box located throughout the county.  Voted ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before Election Day, June 5, and received by Friday, June 8, to be accepted. 

Vote Centers will replace traditional polling places and will be open for voting throughout the early voting period.  The Vote Centers will be providing expanded voter services such as voter registration, multilingual assistance, and disabled access voting options. 

“Under the new All-Mailed/Vote Center model, voters have more ways and more days to vote,” said Church.  “San Mateo County is proud to be among the first counties to implement this voter-focused model,” he added.

The Vote Centers open for 30 days for the Statewide Direct Primary Election are located at:

• Registration & Elections Division, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo
   
• Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, 555 County Center, First Floor, Redwood City
   
• South San Francisco Public Library, 840 West Orange Avenue, South San Francisco
   
• Lewis and Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA, City Room, 555 Bell St., East Palo Alto

Hours of operation for the four Vote Centers are as follows:

• Monday, May 7, 2018 through Friday, May 25, 2018
  9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (weekdays)
   
• Saturday, May 26, 2018 through Monday, June 4, 2018
  9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (daily including Memorial Day)
   
• Tuesday, June 5 (Election Day)
  7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Five additional Vote Centers will open on Saturday, May 26 and another thirty Vote Centers will open on Saturday, June 2.  All Vote Centers will be open through Election Day.

Voters are encouraged to use the “Track and Confirm” tool on www.smcacre.org/voting to track when ballot materials were mailed and when voted ballots are received by the Registration & Elections Division.  Voters can also confirm that their ballot was accepted, and if not, why not.

The Registration & Elections Division offers a toll-free hotline, 888.872.8683, to provide assistance in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Tagalog.  A chat feature has recently been added to the Division’s website at www.smcacre.org.

For more information on the California Voter’s Choice Act and the new All-Mailed Ballot/Vote Center election model, please call 888.872.8683, visit www.smcacre.org or follow us on Twitter @smcvote.