Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Asst. Chief Elections Officer & Asst. Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
(Redwood City, CA) Mark Church, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer and Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, announced today that the randomized alphabet drawing that is conducted to assign letter designations to local measures appearing on the June 2, 2026 Statewide Direct Primary Election ballot will take place on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. The drawing will be held at the Registration & Elections Division, located at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo.
“I encourage the public to observe this important process,” said Church. “Members of the public may attend in person at our office or watch the drawing via livestream on our X account.”
“The randomized alphabet drawings serve two key purposes for the June 2, 2026 Statewide Direct Primary Election ballot. First, they determine the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the official ballot. Second, they assign a letter to each measure that will appear on the ballot,” added Church.
The randomized alphabet drawing is a crucial phase of the official ballot development process. “A randomized alphabet helps create a level playing field,” explained Church. “If we used the standard alphabet in every election, ‘John Adams’ would always appear above ‘George Washington.’” During the drawing, election officials, along with interested members of the public, will draw letters from a basket to determine the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the ballot and to assign letter designations to each measure.
The San Mateo County drawing will determine the ballot order for the following offices:
State Assemblymember, Assembly Districts 19 and 23
The randomized alphabet drawing conducted by the Secretary of State will determine the ballot order for all other offices.
“The San Mateo County drawing will also assign letter designations to the local measures submitted to voters,” stated Church.
Information about candidates and the local measures is available on the Registration & Elections Division website at www.smcacre.gov/elections under Current Election. For more information about the drawing, please contact the Candidate Services unit at (650) 312-5222 or candidateservices@smcacre.gov.
Early Voting Period Begins May 4, 2026
All registered San Mateo County voters will be mailed a Vote by Mail ballot in May 2026. Three Vote Centers will open for in-person voting beginning May 4, 2026, with additional Vote Centers opening through Election Day.
For more information about the June 2, 2026 Statewide Direct Primary Election, call or text (650) 312-5222, visit www.smcacre.gov, or follow us on X @smcvote and Instagram @sanmateocountyvote.