October 01, 2008

SAN MATEO CO.: COUNTY RESIDENTS, ELECTION OFFICIALS PREPARE FOR NOV. 4

With thousands of San Mateo County residents registering to vote each week leading up to the Nov. 4 presidential general election, the county has surpassed the state in the percentage of eligible voters who are actually registered to vote and exceeded the number of county residents who were registered to vote for the 2004 presidential election by about 25,000.

Thousands more voters are anticipated as the Oct. 20 deadline approaches, and turnout is expected to be high, according to Carol Marks, spokeswoman for chief elections officer Warren Slocum.

"It's kind of exciting," Marks said.

Marks said roughly 70 percent of eligible voters are registered in the state of California, while the percentage in San Mateo County is around 77.

Meanwhile, the elections office is preparing to handle the influx of voters rushing to participate in the democratic process this year.

Marks said applications from residents interested in working the polls have almost filled the 2,000 positions, with students participating in democracyLIVE!, the county's student poll worker program, filling out the other 240 spots.

Poll workers, paid $125 for their work, are required to attend training classes before Election Day, Marks said.

Classes will begin Thursday, and depending on experience working elections, poll workers will be trained in apprentice, journeyman or masters level classes.

Poll workers who have not worked an election in San Mateo County or have not worked an election in the county in the last year will be trained during three-hour apprentice classes, elections officials said.

Those who have worked at least one election in the county during the past year will be trained during a 2.5-hour journeyman class, and election officers with more experience working more than five elections are eligible to take the two-hour masters class.

Marks said classes are available at 18 locations throughout the county, and a list of classes scheduled this month is available on the elections Web site at www.shapethefuture.org.
Poll workers who feel they need additional training can also sign up for Lab class, which feature specific training on how to set up the eSlate voting machines and other hands-on Election Day work, according to Marks.

Voters interested in getting started on the election process will soon be able to cast a ballot with early voting at two locations beginning Monday, Marks said.

Early voting will be held weekdays at the Election Office, 40 Tower Road in San Mateo, and at the county office building, 555 County Center in Redwood City. Voting will also be available the two Saturdays before the election from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Marks said.

In addition to residents casting ballots from inside county lines, overseas voters are eligible to participate in the election process. The Election Office began accepting overseas ballots Sept. 5 and will continue to accept ballots until 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Overseas voters, including those serving in the military and students and other San Mateo County residents living and working outside the country, are encouraged to first register with the Federal Voting Assistance Program at www.fvap.gov and visit the county election Web site for additional information. Ballots are accepted by fax, mail, Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot and FedEx.

And, when the polls close and results come flooding in from across the country, Marks said local results are expected in a timely manner, as is the county's tradition.

"We have always had pretty fast returns in this county," Marks said. "It has been something we are proud of."

However, the use of the eSlate voting machines has slowed returns since the use of paper ballots, which are still available to voters upon request.

"Our record for reporting has slowed a bit since getting the machines," Marks said. "It isn't that the machines are slow, it is simply that there are a number of steps that have been added to insure the security of the process and those steps take time."

(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )

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