Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: David Tom, Elections Division Manager
(Redwood City, CA) On May 10, 2013, the San Mateo County Registration and Elections Division will begin its One Percent Manual Tally of the votes cast in the May 7, 2013 La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District and Portola Valley Elementary School District Special All-Mail Ballot Election. The One Percent Manual Tally is a key procedure in the canvass of an election that takes place after Election Day. This procedure is legally required under California law and takes place during the official canvass of the vote. The official canvass begins at the close of Election Day and must be finished within 28 days following an election. This process ensures the accuracy of the vote before the official results are certified.
“The manual tally substantiates the results and provides confirmation that the conduct of the election was proper. It is one of the final steps in the accountability of an election,” said San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Mark Church. “It’s the part of an election that gives election officials, citizens and interested parties full confidence in the final results.”
Official election results will not be certified until the canvass is completed and the votes of both contests are upheld by the validations of the one percent manual tally. This process is expected to take approximately one (1) day to complete. The Chief Elections Officer will certify and publish the official results no later than June 4, 2013.
In order to conduct the one percent manual tally, ballots are selected by using a random process that involves throwing three ten-sided dice where the resulting three numbers are matched to a pre-determined Mobile Ballot Box (MBB - memory card). The pre-determined MBB contains ballots that were scanned and tallied from both contests.
The One Percent Manual Tally, including the rolling of the dice, is a completely transparent process that the public is welcome to observe. Past observers have rolled the dice to help select the precincts that were manually tallied. This process will be held at the Election Division at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. Please call 650.312.5222 if you wish to observe or be a part of the process to select the precincts.
The press release is displayed in its original format. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections website now resides at www.smcacre.org