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 & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, announced today that the randomized alphabet drawing that is conducted to assign letter names to the local measures that will appear on the November 5, 2024 Presidential General Election ballot will be held on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at 11 a.m. 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 observe the drawings by watching our livestream in person at our office or on our X account.”
The randomized alphabet drawings serve two key purposes for the November 5, 2024 Presidential General 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.
The randomized alphabet drawing is a crucial phase of the official ballot development process. “A randomized alphabet helps create a level playing field,” Church explained. “If we used the standard alphabet in every election, ‘John Adams’ would always appear above ‘George Washington.’” During the drawing, election officials and interested members of the public will draw letters from a basket to determine the order in which the candidates’ names will appear and to assign letters to each measure on the ballot.
The San Mateo County drawing will determine the order for the following offices:
- State Senator, Senate Districts 11 & 13
- State Assemblymember, Assembly Districts 19 & 23
The Secretary of State randomized alphabet drawing will determine the order for all other offices including school, city and special district races.
The randomized alphabet drawing for local measures includes:
School District Measures
Bayshore Elementary School District (Bond)
Belmont-Redwood Shores School District (Bond)
Burlingame School District (Parcel Tax)
Cabrillo Unified School District (Bond)
Cabrillo Unified School District (Parcel Tax)
Jefferson Union High School District (Parcel Tax)
Menlo Park City School District (Bond)
Millbrae Elementary School District (Bond)
Pacifica School District (Parcel Tax)
Ravenswood City School District (Parcel Tax)
San Bruno Park School District (Parcel Tax)
San Bruno Park School District (Term Limits)
Woodside Elementary School District (Parcel Tax)
City Measures
City of Belmont (Business License Tax)
Town of Colma (Use Tax Measure)
City of East Palo Alto (Citizen Initiative to Amend Parcel Tax Ordinance)
City of Foster City (Business License Tax)
City of Half Moon Bay (Sales Tax)
City of Menlo Park (Transient Occupancy Tax)
City of Millbrae (Term Limits)
City of Pacifica (Transient Occupancy Tax)
City of Redwood City (Business License Tax)
City of San Bruno (Bond)
City of San Carlos (Appointed Treasurer)
City of San Mateo (City General Plan Amendment)
City of South San Francisco (Business License Tax)
Special District Measures
Broadmoor Police Protection District (Parcel Tax)
Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council (Council Size Reduction)
Information about candidates and local measures is available on the Registration & Elections Division website at smcacre.gov under the “Current Election” section. For more information about the drawing, please contact Candidate Services at 650.312.5222 or CandidateServices@smcacre.gov.
Early Voting Period Begins October 7 to November 4, 2024
San Mateo County’s registered voters will receive their ballots by mail in October 2024. Three Vote Centers will be open for in-person voting from October 7, 2024 leading up to Election Day. Additional Vote Centers will open on October 26 and November 2.
For more information regarding the Registration & Elections Division or the November 5, 2024 Presidential General Election, please call or text 650.312.5222, visit smcacre.gov, or follow us on X and Instagram @smcvote.