Watch the Flash Presentation of the Election Cycle Unfold.

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Phase I – Prepare and Implement

Voter Registration:

The Registration and Elections Office produces and maintains the official voter registration roll of the 360,000+ registered voters in San Mateo County. This must be kept current so that on Election Day, each voter is given a unique ballot that relates to their home address and political districts. If a person changes their name, address or political party, they must re-register to be eligible to vote. The voter registration roll is constantly being updated. Statistics regarding voter registration for San Mateo County can be found online at http://www.shapethefuture.org/voters/default.asp.

Candidate/Measure Filing:

When a person decides to run for office, there is a formal process the potential candidate must follow to file and run. The same is true for proponents of a ballot measure. The California elections code sets forth the rules, regulations and procedures that all candidates and campaign committees must follow. The Registration and Elections Office is the official agency that administers elections the code and provides election assistance to all candidates and campaigns.

Ballot/Sample Ballot Preparation:

After the filing period closes and the Registration and Elections Office has determined the eligible local candidates and measures, and the Secretary of State’s Office has determined the eligible statewide candidates and propositions, the ballot is created. To help voters make informed choices, both offices publish and mail Official Voter Information Guide and Sample Ballot Pamphlets (local and statewide versions) that contain the ballot choices, candidate statements, statewide propositions and local measures and the arguments for and against and rebuttals to those arguments. The 2008 Statewide Direct Primary Election required the preparation of 660 different ballot styles including three different languages.

Supply Assembly and Delivery:

Imagine setting up 472 separate voting sites with staffing needs, voting equipment, and legal procedures and requirements for a single 15 hour work day. Each precinct is outfitted with a specific set of ballots, a roster of eligible voters, signs, voting equipment, telephones, procedures, a myriad of office supplies and a four-person team.

The supply operation distributes and retrieves the polling place supplies and equipment.

Vote by Mail Ballot Operation:

In 2001, the law changed to allow any voter the opportunity to vote by mail. Six years ago, there were less than 4,000 voters who voted by mail on a permanent basis in San Mateo County; today there are nearly 140,000 voters (more than a third of all voters) that vote by mail on a permanent basis.  San Mateo County strongly encourages absentee voting because it is convenient for voters and encourages voter participation.

Election operations have changed dramatically with the popularity of absentee voting. By law, official ballots may be mailed to voters who vote by mail on a permanent basis 29 days in advance of the election.

Once the voted ballots are received at the Elections Office, the signature verification process begins. Voter signatures are compared to a digital image of the signature on their registration form. Once verified, the votes can be recorded.

Recruit & Train Poll Workers:

More than 2,300 well-trained poll workers are needed to staff the 472 polling sites on Election Day. Poll workers provide a community service that is fundamental to our democracy. They welcome all voters, facilitate voting, conduct precinct operations in accordance with election law and follow defined procedures. The Registration and Elections Office conducts over 70 training sessions to prepare every poll worker, field tech, poll opening technician and ride-along coordinator for their election day responsibilities. If you are interested in working on the upcoming elections, click here. Many people find it a rewarding experience and return year after year to serve.

Pre-Election Testing:

Rigorous testing of the eSlate voting equipment is done to prepare for an election. Test ballots are used to simulate voting conditions on Election Day. The test ballots are hand-marked, checked, re-checked, and tabulated test ballots that reflect all the possible voting choices for all ballot styles used in an election. By running the pre-marked and tabulated ballots through the 2,200 eSlate voting machines and checking the results against the pre-marked results grid for that ballot style, the test ballot trials determine if the counting and reporting features on each eSlate voting device is working accurately.

Similarly, a Mock Election is held to test Election Day processes and procedures. The simulation tests every process from the close of the polls to the reporting of the results. It is a dress rehearsal for election night staff.

Delivery of Voting Machines:

With 281 separate voting locations, the delivery crew spends the three days prior to an election delivering the voting machines and polling booths to each polling place. “Chasers” from the Registration and Elections Office follow the delivery trucks to each site to ensure proper setup and security measures are employed.

Once voting machines and polling booths arrive at their designated precinct, the equipment is secured in the locked room(s) until Election morning.

Delivery of Voting Supplies:

The Saturday before an election, the polling place supply suitcase (on wheels) is delivered to the home of the Election Inspector assigned to each of the 472 polling places. Each box contains 45 particular items (300-1200 ballots, ballot marking pens, signage, the roster of voters, etc.) For security purposes, the Inspector must sign for the supply box.

Phase II – Ballots Cast

San Mateo County uses two different types of ballot counting devices to count the votes. One is a high-speed digital scanner that images and reads the votes cast on paper ballots, records the number of votes cast in each contest for each precinct and creates a vote count record. The scanning of paper ballots is done centrally at the Elections Office. Vote by mail ballots received before Election Day, with verified signature matches, are processed before Election Night. At 8:00pm on Election night, these processed ballots are tabulated and reported. Paper ballots cast at the polls, vote by mail ballots received on Election Day and provisional ballots cast at the polls are verified and tabulated during the Official Canvass, in the 28 days following the election. Results from these sources are added to the certified election results.

The other vote counting process results from electronic ballots that are cast by voters at the polls using the eSlates. The votes cast on each electronic ballot are stored in three locations (the eSlate’s memory card, the eSlate’s printed paper trail, and the memory card that in the central controller, the JBC). Election night the JBC memory cards and the eSlate’s paper trails are returned to the Elections Office and after being scanned for inventory, checked for security measures, the memory cards are read electronically, the votes are accumulated, tabulated, consolidated with other election night results and reported.

Phase III – Tabulate

Tabulation does not begin until the polls close at 8 p.m. Election security is fundamental to the tabulation operation. Results are tabulated on an internal network that is housed in a secure location, monitored by cameras, guarded by Sheriff’s Office personnel and accessible only by authorized cardkey holders.

So, how do votes get to the tabulation center from the polls? When the polls close, poll workers run three identical paper receipts of the vote totals from their precinct from the JBC, a component of the voting system.

One of the paper receipts is posted at the polling site. One of the paper receipts is left on the voting system device that contains the memory card that hold the electronic record of all votes cast in each precinct . The other paper receipt, a spare copy, is placed in a special envelope and returned to the Elections Office in the supply case. The electronic ballot recording device, the paper trail components from each eSlate voting machine, all paper ballots cast (including vote by mail and provisional ballots) at the precincts are transported to a centralized Receiving Station.

Waiting trucks are loaded with the ballots, equipment and supplies and driven to the Elections Office. Once all the barcodes on the equipment and supplies have been scanned and the seals inspected following security procedures, the contents are separated so the vote count can being. The memory cards are removed from the JBCs, scanned to ensure they are the same ones that were installed by the elections office, and placed in an electronic card reader and the votes are counted.

Throughout the evening, vote counts from all other precincts are consolidated with the vote by mail returns, the early voting returns (those votes cast at Universal Voting Centers), and the mail ballot precinct vote counts. Provisional vote counts, paper ballots cast at the polls on Election Day, and vote by mail ballots dropped off at the polls or received in the mail on Election Day are counted during the Official Canvass (the 28-day period following the election). Those totals are added to the semi-official results that are posted on Election night to create an official vote count for certification.

Phase IV – Report

On Election Night, returns or semi-official election results are reported for every race. The vote totals are presented in raw numbers and percentages by contest and number of precincts reporting. Anyone can get the results on-line at www.shapethefuture.org or by requesting them to be provided by phone, fax or email or visiting our offices. The election night reporting schedule is:

Phase V – Validate

Results are considered unofficial until the 28-day canvass is completed and the election results are certified by the County’s Registrar of Voters. During this 28-day canvass, a hand count of not less than 1% of the votes cast in every contest is done to validate the results. When that is complete and results are consistent, the Chief Elections Officer will certify the election, present the certified results in a public meeting before the Board of Supervisors and maintain the official record.