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PRESS RELEASE. From Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder on August 17th, 2021.
Those interested in observing the process may come to the Registration & Elections Division office at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, at any time or make prior arrangements by contacting Elections Supervisor Michael Lui at 650.312.5238 or [email protected]
(Redwood City, CA) Beginning Thursday, August 19, authorized staff of the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division will begin opening and processing returned Vote by Mail ballots for the September 14, 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election.
Election officials may open the return envelopes containing voted mail ballots beginning 29 business days before Election Day.
Operating hours for opening and processing will be daily, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., or when all ballots are processed for the day until the Official Canvass is complete.
For each ballot, an election official will compare the voter’s signature on the outside of the envelope to the signature on the voter’s original registration application or other updated signatures on file.
The ballot is separated from the envelope to preserve secrecy. The envelope is saved for the mandatory retention period, and the ballot is digitally scanned. The tabulation of the scanned ballots will not be reported until the close of voting at 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Those interested in observing the process may come to the Registration & Elections Division office at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, at any time or make prior arrangements by contacting Elections Supervisor Michael Lui at 650.312.5238 or [email protected]. Observers will receive a copy of the Election Observer Program Guidelines, which specifies observer rights, responsibilities and limitations, and a copy of the Vote by Mail Processing Procedures.
Registered voters may use the “My Election Info” link at www.smcvote.org or Where’s My Ballot to verify when ballot materials were mailed and when the Registration & Elections Division received their voted ballot.
The last day for registered voters to request a ballot to be mailed to them for the September 14, 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election is Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
Voted mail ballots can be returned in one of the following ways:
- Mail your ballot in the POSTAGE-PAID ENVELOPE. Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and received by the Registration & Elections Division no later than Tuesday, September 21, 2021;
- Drop off your ballot at any Official Ballot Drop Box located throughout the county; or
- Drop off your ballot at any Vote Center daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. before Election Day and from 7 a.m. to 8.pm. on Election Day.
A full list of Vote Center locations can be found online at www.smcvote.org.
California Gubernatorial Recall Election Updates
The most comprehensive resource for San Mateo County election information is www.smcvote.org which is updated frequently as Election Day approaches. For more information on voting services available for the September 14, 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election, please call or text 650.312.5222, visit www.smcvote.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcvote.
The Registration & Elections Division also offers a toll-free hotline, 888.SMC.VOTE (888.762.8683), to assist voters in any language.
Counting Vote by Mail Ballots in San Mateo County
Process Overview
The San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division has decades of experience with Vote by Mail, with the majority of our voters preferring this voting method over in-person voting. Vote by Mail is safe, secure, and convenient, and can be tracked to and from our office via BallotTrax.
Although most San Mateo County voters vote by mail, many do not know what happens after they return their voted ballot to us…until now! Here are 10 steps we take to process, inspect, secure, and count your Vote by Mail ballot.
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- Pickup Mail
Ballots are picked up daily from the San Mateo Main Post Office and from San Francisco Main Distribution Center.
- Pickup Mail
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- Clean Mail
Remove any mailpieces that aren’t ballot envelopes and arrange the ballot envelopes with their barcodes facing one direction.
- Clean Mail
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- First Vantage Ballot Sorter Pass
Ballot envelopes go through the Vantage Ballot Sorter where a picture is taken of the voter’s signature. Any damaged ballot envelopes are sorted out and given to a voter outreach team. The Ballot Sorter machine can process 50,000 ballots an hour.
- First Vantage Ballot Sorter Pass
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- Verify Signatures
A team compares the signature on the envelope with the one on file. Missing or mismatched (aka challenged) signatures require outreach.
- Verify Signatures
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- Second Vantage Ballot Sorter Pass
Ballot envelopes go through the Vantage Ballot Sorter where challenged signatures are sorted out.
- Second Vantage Ballot Sorter Pass
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- Extract Ballots (Ballots are removed from their envelopes)
Voted Ballots with good signatures are “extracted” via Extraction Desks from the return envelopes. We have three Extraction Desks that each can process 2,000 ballots an hour.
- Extract Ballots (Ballots are removed from their envelopes)
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- Quality Control
Extracted ballots are reviewed to ensure that ballots are ready for scanning. Each ballot has a barcode called a “timing mark”. If a voter tears or spills coffee on these timing marks, the scanning machine may not be able to identify the ballot. Damaged ballots are set aside for duplication onto a clean, undamaged ballot.
- Quality Control
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- Scan Ballot
Ballots are scanned at scanning stations. We have 5 scanning stations that each can process more than 1,000 ballots an hour. We have two high speed (HiPro) scanners that can process more than 2,000 ballots an hour.
- Scan Ballot
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- Adjudicate Ballots
Undervotes, overvotes, write-ins and stray marks are reviewed by trained staff to ensure your vote is accurately counted.
- Adjudicate Ballots
- Post Election Audit
Ballots are randomly selected to be manually tallied to ensure that the computer tally is accurate. Upon verification, the election results are certified.
Contacts
Mark ChurchAssessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Chief Elections Officer
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Asst. Chief Elections Officer & Asst. Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Author: Coastside Buzz
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