Why is This Important?

Voting allows residents to participate in communitywide decision making. High voter turnout indicates that citizens are engaged and feel empowered to influence decisions affecting them. High voter participation is essential if public policy is to accurately reflect the will of the people. Low voter turnout can signal disenfranchisement and skew government’s focus toward the desires of those who voted.

What is a Sustainable State?

A sustainable state is one where all community members are able to participate in the democratic process by voting, and governments accommodate all citizens with a variety of registration and voting options.

How Are We Doing?

· In November of 2010, San Mateo County voters considered a range of statewide and national elective office, including Governor, Attorney General, along with all of the state’s federal representatives and one of the state’s federal senators. Local voters also voted on a number of statewide propositions.

· The Secretary of State estimates that as of two weeks prior the last election, there were 488,810 residents in San Mateo County who were eligible to vote. About 70 percent of those eligible to vote were registered. Voter registration in the county is at its lowest point since 2001.

· In total 226,259 voters cast ballots, meaning about 46 percent of those eligible to vote actually voted. (Turnout among registered voters was 65.3 percent.)

· Voter participation in the county has regularly exceeded statewide turnout. Statewide participation in the November election was 43.7 percent of eligible voters.

· Total voter registration, which peaked before the November 2008 election, declined again in 2010. Fifteen days prior to the November 2008 election, about 81.3 percent of eligible voters (those meeting all criteria for voter eligibility) were actually registered (about 390,000 voters). This number fell to 360,782 voters, or about 74.8 percent of eligible voters in 2009, then again to 346,000 in 2010. This highlights the need for continued voter participation programs targeting non-presidential year elections.

· Voting-by-mail continues to increase in popularity. In 2010, over 51 percent of all ballots cast were by mail; in 2004, that same number was 43 percent.

· Voter participation is highly correlated with household income. Among county municipalities, the Town of Portola Valley had the highest turnout in the November election, with almost 80 percent of registered voters casting ballots. Nine municipalities had participation rates over 70 percent, and 16 municipalities in the county had participation rates above the state average (59.6 percent).