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According to data from the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s office, San Mateo County still has approximately 70,000 eligible voters who have not yet registered to vote in this election. Those eligible voters still have time to cast their ballots in the 2024 election.
There are 514,143 eligible voters in the county, according to data from the office of the California Secretary of State, but only 443,164 of eligible voters, or 86%, have registered to vote, according to the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s office.
However, this is more than the 433,549 San Mateo County residents who were registered to vote in the 2022 midterm elections and the 424,879 San Mateo County residents who were registered to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
If you missed the Oct. 21 voter registration deadline, that does not mean that you cannot vote in this election. California residents can vote under “conditional voter registration” until 8 p.m. on Election Day at any vote center. If you are registered to vote but not at the correct address, you can also re-register and vote conditionally with your new address.
At the vote center, unregistered voters or voters who need to re-register will fill out a paper voter registration or electronic voter registration form. Next, voters will be given a ballot, which will be placed in a special conditional voter registration envelope.
The ballots in these envelopes will only be processed once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process.
“Your vote is your voice and those 70,000 unregistered voters in San Mateo County can mean the difference between whether our children attend crumbling, antiquated public schools with underpaid teachers or modern schools packed with technology and teachers who are not struggling to make ends meet,” said San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Vice President David Canepa in the press release.
Several recent local elections have been decided by just a handful of votes, such as Woodside’s Measure A, which narrowly passed by just four votes in 2021.
Earlier this year, the primary for the 16th Congressional District race was decided by just five votes. In a recount vote, candidate Evan Low pulled ahead of Joe Simitian to break an unprecedented 30,249-vote tie.
As of 5 p.m. on Nov. 3, San Mateo County had received 180,426 vote-by-mail ballots and 9,511 ballots at vote centers, meaning that 42% of registered voters in the county had submitted their ballots so far.
The first results for this year’s election from San Mateo County will begin rolling in at 8:10 p.m. on election night. These initial results will include vote-by-mail ballots received in the mail or in drop boxes on or before Friday, Nov. 1.
Can you vote without an address?
People without a fixed address are still eligible to vote. Under California law, voters do not lose their voting residence (also known as a domicile) until they gain a new domicile. Homeless voters or those who have chosen to live on the road may use the address of their last residence as their voting residence.
If you intend to register without a fixed residence address, provide the last street address where you resided, or you may register at the address where you spend most of your time, such as a shelter. If you are unable to use any sort of address when registering, you must describe the location where you live clearly enough that election officials can determine which voting precinct you live in.
This can be done by providing the city, ZIP code and closest cross-streets where you intend to remain each night. This may be a public camp or a public park or similar.
Where to vote on the mid-Peninsula
There are two kinds of places to vote in San Mateo County: Vote Centers and ballot drop boxes. Vote centers are staffed and are the only places you can vote if you have not registered or did not receive a ballot in the mail. You can also turn in your mail-in ballot at vote centers. Vote centers will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
San Mateo County residents who received a ballot in the mail can drop them off at ballot drop boxes any time until 8 p.m. on election day.
Learn where to vote in Atherton, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks, Portola Valley, Redwood City and Woodside.
Atherton
- Atherton Town Hall, 80 Fair Oaks Lane, Atherton, CA, 94027 (outdoor ballot drop box).
- Menlo College, Russell Center, 1000 El Camino Real, Atherton, CA, 94027 (vote center and outdoor ballot drop box).
East Palo Alto
- Ravenswood City School District, 2160 Euclid Ave., East Palo Alto, CA, 94303 (indoor drop box, subject to facility’s operating hours).
- University Circle, 1950 University Ave., Suite 180, East Palo Alto, CA, 94303 (vote center and indoor ballot drop box).
- Lewis and Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA, 500 Bell St., East Palo Alto, CA, 94303 (vote center).
- East Palo Alto Government Center, 2415 University Ave., East Palo Alto, CA, 94303 (outdoor ballot drop box).
Menlo Park
- Arillaga Family Recreation Center, Sequoia Room, 700 Alma St., Menlo Park, CA, 94025 (vote center).
- Menlo Park City Hall, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA, 94025 (outdoor ballot drop box).
- Menlo Park Boys & Girls Club, 401 Pierce Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025 (outdoor ballot drop box).
- Belle Haven Community Campus, 100 Terminal Ave., Menlo Park, CA, 94025 (vote center).
- Belle Haven Child Development Center, 410 Ivy Drive, Menlo Park, CA, 94025 (outdoor ballot drop box).
North Fair Oaks
- North Fair Oaks Library, 2510 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA, 94063 (indoor ballot drop box).
- Fair Oaks Community Center, 2600 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA, 94063 (vote center).
Portola Valley
- Portola Valley Town Center, Community Hall, 765 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA, 94028 (vote center and outdoor ballot drop box).
- Sequoia Living Portola Valley, 501 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA, 94028 (indoor ballot drop box, subject to facility’s operating hours).
Redwood City
- American Legion Post 105, 651 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 (vote center).
- Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s office, 555 County Center, Redwood City, CA, 94063 (vote center, indoor and outdoor ballot drop boxes).
- Redwood City Library, 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA, 94063 (vote center).
- Redwood City, City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA, 94063 (outdoor ballot drop box).
- Redwood City Community Activities Building, Room 1, 1400 Roosevelt Ave., Redwood City, CA, 94063 (vote center and outdoor ballot drop box).
- Cañada College Lot 4 Bookstore, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City, CA, 94063 (outdoor ballot drop box).
Woodside
- Woodside Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA, 94062 (outdoor ballot drop box).
- Woodside Library, 3140 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA, 94062 (indoor ballot drop box).
- Woodside Village Church, Guild Hall, 3145 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA (vote center).
- Kings Mountain Fire Brigade 56, 13889 Skyline Blvd., Woodside, CA, 94062 (outdoor ballot drop box).
