As the June 6 primary election approaches, there’s a flurry of activity around the county. Ballots are arriving in mailboxes, there are drives to register voters prior to the May 22 deadline, and people have actually started voting — not just by mail — but at special voting centers.
Nine Universal Voting Centers have been set up throughout the county to meet state and federal requirements for voting machines to serve people with disabilities. While the centers were set up primarily for disabled people, others can vote there, too.
Voters can drop off absentee ballots at the centers, or vote in person using eSlate electronic voting devices designed for voters with disabilities.
The county has leased 10 of the machines that qualify for use by disabled people, not enough for every voting location on election day June 6. Therefore, the county set up the nine voting centers in advance of the election as a compromise.
“We have adopted a proactive, phased plan to meet the spirit, if not the letter, of the law, to provide accessible voting opportunities for voters in San Mateo County,” said County Elections Officer Warren Slocum.
The county’s Sample Ballot and voter information pamphlet is available by request on audiotape for the visually impaired. “We intend to make voting as accessible as possible,” Mr. Slocum said. “All election materials are available in English, Spanish and Chinese.”
San Mateo — and other California counties — have been scrambling to select, certify, buy and install new voting equipment to satisfy new federal and state rules — including that the equipment provides a paper record of each vote.
Since San Mateo County has not been able to meet all the deadlines to get new systems in place by June 6, it will use its existing voting machines in polling places throughout the county on election day.
Meanwhile, new voting equipment that complies with all regulations should be ready in time for the November election, Mr. Slocum said. The Board of Supervisors May 9 approved an agreement with the state to receive a federal grant of up to $4.5 million to “purchase and deploy voting systems.”
Young voters
The Board of Supervisors and the League of Women Voters of San Mateo County are also winding up their drive to enlist first-time voters in high school classes around the county.Some 30 league volunteers have contacted more than 100 teachers in 34 public and private high schools from Daly City to East Palo Alto.
“We encourage teachers to make registration a classroom project,” said Carole Dorshkind of Redwood City, who chairs the student voter registration drive for the league.
In the South County, League volunteers have contacted Woodside, Menlo-Atherton and Sequoia high schools, as well as private schools, such as Sacred Heart, Menlo, Eastside Prep and Mid-Peninsula high schools.
Students who turn 18 in time for the November election, but after the registration deadline, can still register, and the county will hold the registration until their birthday, Ms. Dorshkind said. “I know it’s an ambitious goal, but we’re hoping to register over 5,000 high school seniors,” she said.
INFORMATION
• People can vote at three Universal Voting Centers in the South County: Elections Office, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo; Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Office, 555 County Center (corner of Bradford and Hamilton streets), Redwood City; and Civic Center, 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.• For more information, call 1-888-SMC-VOTE, or go to the county’s election Web site: shapethefuture.org.
• Two other Web sites carry election information: the California Secretary of State, at ss.ca.gov/elections; and the League of Women Voters, at smartvoter.org.
