Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Assistant Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
(Redwood City, CA) On Thursday, August 15th at 11 a.m., the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division and the Secretary of States’ Office will conduct randomized alphabet drawings. “I encourage the public to observe this important process,” said Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder.
The randomized alphabet drawings serve two essential functions for the November 5, 2019 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District 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 to assign the letters 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,” he added.
Information regarding candidates and the local measures is available on the Registration & Elections Division website at www.smcacre.org. For more information about the drawing, please contact Michael Lui, Candidate Filing Officer, at 650.312.5238 or candidateservices@smcacre.org.
All-Mailed Ballot - Vote Center Election Model for November 5, 2019
The November 5, 2019 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District Election will be the third election San Mateo County conducts under the California Voter’s Choice Act model. Traditional polling places have been replaced by Vote Centers, which will be open for voting for a greater period, and which will offer expanded voter services including voter registration, multilingual assistance, and disabled access voting options. Every registered voter, in a jurisdiction holding an election, will receive a Vote by Mail Ballot, which can be returned with no postage required in any mailbox or special ballot drop boxes located throughout the county.
For more information on the November 5, 2019 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District Election, please call 650.312.5222, visit www.smcacre.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcvote.