Final election results show county's highest voter turnout since 1968

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Signs near the Arrillaga Family Gymnastics Center in Menlo Park guide people to a ballot dropbox or vote center, while reminding people to socially distance on Oct. 31, 2020. Photo by Lloyd Lee.

San Mateo County released its official, certified election results on Dec. 3 for the Nov. 3 general election, which saw 85.9% voter turnout, the county’s highest rate since 1968.

Voters cast 380,193 ballots for the Nov. 3 general election, out of 442,637 registered voters. In 2016, voter turnout was 81.6%, with 323,303 votes cast out of 396,341 registered voters.

San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Mark Church said the high voter turnout was expected this year.

“The Presidential Election cycle traditionally draws in more voters due to the high-profile nature of the contest, but even as compared to other Presidential elections this was a notable showing,” Church said in an email.

In recent years, voter turnout for presidential elections hovered around 80%. This year, several factors such as California’s Voter’s Choice Act, Senate Bill (SB) 415 and the county’s Voter Education Outreach Program contributed to the high turnout, according to Church.

The state’s Voter’s Choice Act expanded voting options, while SB 415 moved governing board elections to even-numbered years.

As a result, Church said, “This is the largest number of jurisdictions, candidates, offices and ballot styles ever to be placed on a Presidential ballot.”

Of the ballots cast, over 90% were cast by mail.

Church said that the entire election process went very well and that approximately 90% of the 14,251 challenged ballots were cured, a term that means errors or omissions were corrected by the voters, enabling the ballot to be counted.

Of the uncured ballots, over 300 could not be resolved due to issues like being postmarked after Election Day.

Church said the county overcame the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic while accommodating the high voter turnout.

“Even though we had over 33,000 visitors to our Vote Centers and over 1,300 employees and volunteers, I’m proud to say we had no COVID outbreaks at the polls or the elections office, due to the extensive precautions we implemented,” Church said.

Atherton City Council

Incumbent Elizabeth Lewis and newcomer Diana Hawkins-Manuelian won two open seats on the Atherton City Council, according to official results from the San Mateo County Elections Office posted Thursday. Incumbent Cary Wiest lost his seat. The voter turnout was 87.5%.

Lewis garnered 2,407 votes (36%). Hawkins-Manuelian had 1,721 votes (25.8%), while Wiest had 1,508 votes (22.6%) and newcomer Christine David had 1,043 votes (15.6%).

Portola Valley Town Council

Councilman Jeff Aalfs and challenger Sarah Wernikoff were elected to

the Portola Valley Town Council.

Aalfs, who served as mayor this year and joined the council in 2011, received 2,055 votes, or 39.7%, according to official results. Wernikoff, who replaces longtime Councilwoman Ann Wengert after she declined to run for reelection, received 1,695 votes (32.8%).

Challengers Mary Hufty and Angela Hey came in third and fourth, respectively, with Hufty receiving 1,059 votes (20.5%) and Hey getting 362 votes (7%).

Menlo Park Fire Protection District board

Incumbents Virginia Chang Kiraly and Rob Silano easily won reelection to their seats on the Menlo fire board.

Chang Kiraly and Silano, who have both been on the board since 2011, were separated by just 103 votes, according to certified election results. Chang Kiraly received 19,711 votes (38%), while Silano received 19,608 (37.8%).

Former board member Peter Carpenter came in third with 7,081 votes (13.6%), followed by Sean Ballard at 5,522 votes (10.6%).

School districts

Sequoia Union High School District

Two newcomers won two contested seats on the Sequoia Union High School District’s governing board.

Rich Ginn, a parent and business owner, won the Trustee Area C seat, which represents Woodside, West Menlo Park and Portola Valley, with 9,685 votes (37.8%). Incumbent Georgia Jack, who initially led on election night, had 8,605 votes (33.5%), while Shamar Edwards, school principal, had 7,366 votes (28.7%). Voter turnout was 89.6%.

Candidate Shawneece Stevenson had 9,510 votes (71.5%) in Trustee Area E, which includes Menlo Park neighborhoods east of Highway 101 as well as East Palo Alto. Jacqui Cebrian, who dropped out of the race in September to support Stevenson, garnered 3,789 votes (29%). Voter turnout was 74.5%.

Las Lomitas Elementary School District

Newcomers Jason Morimoto and Jody Leng won two open seats on the Las Lomitas Elementary School Board. Leng has refused to serve, as she told the district shortly after Election Day. There will be two open seats come mid-December, as board president Jon Venverloh, recently resigned amid public outcry over his wife’s racist and misogynistic tweets disparaging Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Voter turnout was 88.5%

Morimoto had 3,579 votes (39.9%). Leng had 2,943 votes (32.8)% and Molly Finn had 2,443 votes (27.3%).

Menlo Park City School District

Newcomer Francesca Segrè and incumbent David Ackerman won two open seats on the Menlo Park City School District’s governing board. Voter turnout was 88%.

Segrè had 8,943 votes (46.3%), Ackerman had 7,621 votes (39.5%) and Robert Maclay trails behind with 2,736 votes (14.2%).

Menlo Park City Council

In Menlo Park’s District 3, the only district with a contested race, Jen Wolosin won the seat over candidates Chelsea Nguyen and Max Fennell, according to official results. Incumbent Ray Mueller ran unopposed and will represent District 5.

Wolosin received 1,702 votes (58.2%), Nguyen received 779 votes (26.6%) and Fennell received 446 votes (15.2%).

Other local results

There were some close races at the city level, with less than 100 votes separating some candidates.

In East Palo Alto’s city council, just 69 votes separated the two candidates vying for the third spot on the council. Newcomer Antonio Lopez won a spot on the council, with 2,998 votes compared to Webster Lincoln’s 2,929 votes. Incumbents Lisa Gauthier and Carlos Romero got the top two spots.

In the presidential race, 77.9% of San Mateo County voters supported President-elect Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, who received 20.2% of votes.

To view the official results for San Mateo County, visit livevoterturnout.com.

Voters cast their ballots inside the Half Gym of the Lewis and Joan Platt Family YMCA in East Palo Alto on Oct. 31, 2020. Photo by Lloyd Lee.