Vote by Mail Increases Voter Turnout for Nov. 6 Elections

On Tuesday, Mark Church, the Chief Elections Officer for the County of San Mateo, officially certified the election results for the Nov. 6, 2012 Presidential General Election.

“Overall, the election went smoothly,” said Mark Church, San Mateo County’s Chief Elections Officer.

“This election saw a turnout of 79.83 percent of the registered voters, the highest percentage turnout since 1992,” said Church.

A closer look at the turnout numbers showed that 165,877 of the 288,592 ballots cast were from Vote by Mail voters and 119,212 ballots were voted at the polls.

“This is further evidence of the rising popularity of voting by mail and its potential for increasing turnout,” Church added.

In the November Presidential General Election, San Mateo County had 468 reporting precincts and 343 precincts associated with a specific polling place. There were 1,876 Election Officers serving at those polling places on Nov. 6.

“We are most grateful to the exceptional men, women, and students who served our voters on Election Day. They worked diligently throughout a very long day,” said Church.

The Chief Elections Officer officially certifies the results once the Canvass is completed in the 28 days following an election. During the Canvass, the Vote by Mail ballots and the paper and electronic ballots cast at the Elections Office are added to the semi‐official vote totals. A publicly conducted one percent manual tally of the votes, an important part of an audit required by the elections code, confirmed the accuracy of the election.

The official election results, published in a document known as the Statement of the Vote, are posted on the San Mateo County Elections website.

These official election results provide a complete picture of the election with vote totals 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 ballots cast and turnout on a precinct‐by‐precinct basis.

Anyone may review or download and print a complete copy of the election results from San Mateo County at the San Mateo County Elections Office website.

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