Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Assistant Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder

(Redwood City, CA) Today, Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer for the County of San Mateo, officially certified the election results for the November 3, 2015 Consolidated Municipal, School and Special District Election.  It was the first such election in the history of the state to be conducted primarily by mail countywide.

The All-Mailed Ballot Election was authorized in San Mateo County as a pilot program by Assembly Bill 2028 (authored by Kevin Mullin).  It allows up to three local elections, in which every voter will receive a ballot by mail.       

“The All-Mailed Ballot Election was a complete success.  The election resulted in increased voter turnout, decreased costs, improved efficiencies and early results on election night,” said Church.  “We saw a turnout of 29.49% of the registered voters in San Mateo County, making it the highest turnout for a comparable election in over 20 years.  More significantly, it reversed a downward trend in voter turnout here in the county and across the state.”

The election also saw the largest number of voters participating in over 20 years for a Local Consolidated Election.  There were 14,000 more voters and a 15% increase in the number of voters participating when compared to the last Local Consolidated Election held in 2013. 

More than 10,000 voters also checked the box on their return envelope to register to permanently vote by mail, increasing San Mateo County vote by mail voters to 60% of all registered voters.

A closer look at the turnout numbers showed that 102,721 of the 105,341 ballots cast were from Vote by Mail voters, 213 were early voters and 2,407 ballots were voted at the polls.  Of the total votes cast, approximately 97.5% were cast by mail and 2.5% were cast at Voting Centers and Universal Polling Places.

The Chief Elections Officer officially certifies the results once the Canvass is completed in the 30 days following an election.  During the Canvass, the Vote by Mail ballots and the paper and electronic ballots cast at the Voting Centers and the polls are added to the semi-official vote totals.  After which, a one percent manual tally of the votes is conducted to confirm the accuracy of the election.

The official elections results, published in the Statement of the Vote, are posted on the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division website, www.shapethefuture.org.  These official election results provide a complete picture of the election with vote totals for candidates and measures that are broken down by precinct and the method in which the ballots were cast.  The Precinct Report is also available online and lists the number of ballots cast and the percentage of turnout on a precinct-by-precinct basis.  Anyone may review or download and print a complete copy of the election results at the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division website, www.shapethefuture.org.

For more information, please contact the Registration & Elections Division at 650.312.5222.

The press release is displayed in its original format. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections website now resides at www.smcacre.org