California’s new online voter registration process added more than 614,000 registered voters to today’s state electorate — almost half of them registered as Democrats. But beyond the presidential race, experts say, party officials shouldn’t count on support from such first-time voters.
Younger people and first-time voters tend to vote more independently and less along party lines than other voters, noted Corey Cook, an associate professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. New voters also tend to vote for the president and then leave many other items blank on their ballots.
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Heading into the final weekend before Election Day, there are still plenty of ballots out in San Francisco.
Of 260,628 mail-in ballots sent to voters, only 93,336 had been returned as of Friday. There are a total of 502,756 registered voters in San Francisco, with 234,983 permanent mail voters and 40,344 having registered under the state’s new online voter registration system. Read More
For the first time, preliminary results of ranked-choice voting will be released on Election Night, which should help to calm nerves and lessen suspense.
In the past, the Department of Elections would wait days to run the first tabulation of ranked-choice voting, which left many guessing where people’s second- and third-place votes would go in the close races.
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Much has been made of Asian voter influence in Tuesday’s mayoral election, but it’s also important to note that the geographic support of Ed Lee’s stretched citywide — including into the home district of his closest competitor. Read More
Voters have only hours left to obtain mail-in ballots for the Nov. 8 election.The mail-in ballot requests are due to The City’s Department of Elections by 5 p.m. A press release from the department said the requests must be in the hands of elections workers today, and postmarks before the deadline will not count. Read More
San Francisco’s paperless movement took another step forward Tuesday with the adoption of an opt-out option for voter information pamphlets.
Local governments throughout California are starting to allow voters to receive election guides electronically instead of in hard-copy form under a state law passed last year that took effect at the beginning of this year. Read More
Beginning in October transit shelters, Muni buses and billboards around The City will have smiley faces on them. It’s part of the Department of Elections planned public outreach campaign to ensure voters know how to properly fill out ranked-choice voting ballot cards. Read More
A man accused of stealing ballots from a San Francisco polling station last November seems determined not to get out of jail after giving the silent treatment to the judge at his sentencing hearing Monday.Karl Bradfield Nicholas, 51, was set to receive a one-year sentence but would likely have been set free Monday because of credit for time already served. Read More
