Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Assistant Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
(Redwood City, CA) The randomized alphabet drawing that is conducted to assign letter names to the local measures that will appear on the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election ballot will be held on Thursday, August 13, at 11 a.m. at the Registration & Elections Division located at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. “I encourage the public to observe this important process,” said Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder. Members of the public may observe the drawings by watching our livestream on our Twitter account or in person at our office.
The randomized alphabet drawings serve two essential functions for the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election ballot. First, they determine the placement order of candidates’ names on the official ballot. Second, they assign a letter to each measure that will appear on the ballot.
The randomized alphabet drawing is a crucial phase of the official ballot development process. “A randomized alphabet helps create a level playing field,” Church explained. “If we used the standard alphabet in every election, ‘John Adams’ would always appear above ‘George Washington.’” At the drawing, election officials and interested members of the public will draw letters from a basket to determine the candidates’ name placement order and assign them for each measure listed on the ballot.
“The Secretary of State’s randomized alphabet drawing will determine the order for all city, school, and special district office races,” stated Church. “The San Mateo County drawing will assign the letters to the local measures submitted to the voters,” added Church.
Information regarding candidates and the local measures are available on the Registration & Elections Division website at www.smcacre.org under Current Election. For more information about the drawing, please contact the Candidate Services Supervisor, Michael Lui, at 650.312.5238 or candidateservices@smcacre.org.
For more information on the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election, please call 650.312.5222, visit www.smcacre.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcvote.