Election Corner: Now What?
Election Day is behind us, but there’s plenty of post-election activity ahead. Let’s review what’s to come in the November 3, 2020 election process.
Counting all the votes
While many ballots are in the County Election Official’s possession on Election Night, California election law allows counting certain ballots that arrive at the County Election Office after Election Day. In order to be eligible for counting, a ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the county within 3 days of Election Day. For the November 3, 2020 election, ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within 17 days of Election Day are eligible for counting. All eligible ballots must be counted before election results can be certified as “official results”. Throughout the process, preliminary results reports are released in a variety of formats for review. Follow the results reports here.
Although certain processes related to ballot counting began before Election Night, in order to ensure all eligible ballots are counted, California election law allows 30 days to tabulate, verify, and certify all election results. Activities that occur during the 30 day certification period are designed to ensure all eligible votes are counted and all votes are accurately tabulated and verified. For a detailed description of the activities that take place following Election Day, go here.
Throughout the entire election process, Election Officials strive for accuracy, security, and transparency. To learn more about the processes in place to ensure the integrity of elections and results, go here.
Was your ballot counted?
Track the status of your ballot to ensure it was counted using the California Secretary of State’s Where’s My Ballot tool. This tool also informs you if your ballot has an issue preventing it from being counted and provides instructions for how to take action to cure the issue. One of the most common issues that results in a “challenged ballot” is a discrepancy between the signature on the ballot return envelope and the signature in the voter’s registration record. Another common reason is no signature on the return envelope. Voters can cure signature issues up until 2 days before election results are certified. Check your ballot status today!
What happens next for our City Council candidates?
After local results are certified by the San Mateo County Election Official, the City Clerk will submit the official results and a staff report to the City Council for adoption. At the same meeting, the newly elected City Councilmembers will be sworn-in and the outgoing Councilmembers will be honored for their service to the city. Check back next week for more information about what to expect once election results are official.
