Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

June 9, 2008

One Percent Manual Tally of June 3 Primary to Commence
Part of the Official Canvass, transparent process to ensure accuracy of vote begins Friday

Redwood City, CA – On Friday, June 13 at 8:15 a.m., the San Mateo County Elections Office is scheduled to begin its one percent manual tally of votes cast in the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election, which will ensure the accuracy of the vote before certifying election results.

The manual tally, which will be held at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo, is required by California law in the 28 days following an election. It is one part of the Official Canvass of the Vote, which began as soon as the polls closed on Election Day. Observers are welcome to monitor the progress of the 1% manual tally and all aspects of the Official Canvass.

“The canvass is the least understood, most important part of the elections process,” said San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum. “During the canvass, we verify that the votes cast by voters in an election and represented by the semi-official results that are posted online are, in fact, accurate. Official election results will not be certified until the results of this process are completed and we have confirmed the outcomes of the contests on the ballot.”

Precincts selected for the 1% manual tally are determined randomly using three ten-sided dice to roll numbers that represent digits in precinct numbers. However, the number of precincts that will be subject to the manual tally is not a simple matter of choosing one percent of San Mateo County’s 448 precincts.

“Every race that occurred must have one percent of its votes manually recounted.  It means that each party’s statewide primary races and statewide propositions, local elections for the board of supervisors and superior court judge, and all four local measures on the June 3 ballot must be included in the tally.” Slocum said. “ More likely, there will be 7 to 10 precincts that will undergo the manual tally.” 

If a precinct is selected, every vote cast in that precinct is tallied, whether it was cast via eSlate electronic voting machine at the polls, paper ballot, Vote by Mail ballot, provisional ballot or early voting at a universal voting center. Precinct boards will work in teams of four, to manually read, call out, record and tally votes.

The one percent manual tally is just one part of the Official Canvass of the Vote, which has eight components. Every ballot and vote that wasn’t counted on Election Night is processed, including Vote by Mail ballots received the day before or on Election Day, and provisional ballots. Ballot numbers and signatures on voter rosters are reconciled with the number of votes cast, and precinct supplies are inspected. For a complete explanation of the requirements of the canvass, visit http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_oc.htm.

When the manual tally and the other official canvass requirements are completed, election results will be certified and made official by Slocum. Results must be certified by July 1 and then presented to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for acceptance.

The manual recount, including the rolling of the dice to determine audited precincts, is a transparent process open to the public. Call (650) 312-5222 if you wish to make arrangements to observe.

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