Why don’t I see my jurisdiction on the ballot?

San Mateo County’s election landscape is changing. Most scheduled local elections will no longer occur in odd-numbered years beginning in 2017. Senate Bill No. 415 (SB 415), also known as the California Voter Participation Rights Act, mandates jurisdictions with odd-year elections to move to even-year elections by November 2022 if voter turnout falls below a threshold established by law. The new law aims to increase voter participation and lower costs in local elections since even-numbered year elections have higher voter turnout.

Many jurisdictions in San Mateo County have already chosen to move elections that would have occurred in 2017 forward to 2018. Other jurisdictions have scheduled their move to a later date and will still hold their regularly scheduled odd-year elections in 2017. Below is a chart of all jurisdictions with regularly scheduled even-year elections, including those that will move to an even-year cycle at a later date.