Candidate filing period opens

The candidate filing period for the Nov. 3 election opens Monday, July 13, and closes Aug. 7. In Almanac towns, a total of 24 seats on town councils, school boards and special district boards are up for election.

They include seats on town councils and elementary school boards in Woodside and Portola Valley, the boards of the high school and community college districts, the boards of the two fire protection districts, and the West Bay Sanitary District board.

A candidate seminar will be held Thursday, July 16, at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. A seminar on voter data available to candidates is set for Thursday, July 23.

Click here to register and for more information on this election.

All-mail election?

In a pilot project under state law, two counties in California — San Mateo and Yolo — have been authorized to conduct this election by mail-in ballots only. To do so, all jurisdictions in the county that are scheduled to hold an election must agree to the all-mail system.

Of the 40 jurisdictions scheduled to hold an election in San Mateo County this fall, six have not submitted resolutions agreeing to an all-mail election. They must do so by Friday, Aug. 7, or the all-mail system is off.

Locally, of the 10 jurisdictions scheduled to hold an election this fall, only the board of the West Bay Sanitary District has yet to pass a resolution.

Proponents of all-mail elections point to the benefits of lower cost and possibly higher voter turnout. In the June primary, 78 percent of the ballots cast in San Mateo County were mail-in ballots.

In an “all-mail” election, each city and town would have at least one physical location where voters can drop off completed mail-in ballots. On Election Day, each city and town would have one polling place for traditional in-person private voting, and it would be accessible to people with disabilities, according to the county Elections Office.

Open seats

These are the open seats in the Almanac area:

■ Portola Valley Town Council, two seats, currently held by Jeff Aalfs and Ann Wengert.

■ Woodside Town Council, four seats, now held by Dave Burow (District 5), Peter Mason (District 7), Ron Romines (District 1), and Tom Shanahan (District 3).

■ Woodside Elementary School District, two board seats, now held by Silvia Edwards and Kevin Johnson.

■ Portola Valley Elementary School District, two board seats, now held by Jocelyn Swisher and Linda Wong.

■ Woodside Fire Protection District, two board seats, now held by Pat Cain and John Gardner.

■ Menlo Park Fire Protection District, two board seats, now held by Virginia Chang Kiraly and Rob Silano.

■ West Bay Sanitary District, three board seats, now held by Fran Dehn, Ronald Shepherd and David Walker.

■ Ladera Recreation District, one board seat, currently held by Karen Fryling.

■ Sequoia Union High School District, three board seats, now held by Carrie Du Bois, Laura Martinez and Allen Weiner.

■ San Mateo County Community College District, three seats, now held by Dave Mandelkern, Patricia Miljanich and Karen Schwarz.