What is Your Voting Plan?

COVID-19 has forced many states to make changes to voting. In California every registered voter will receive a vote-by-mail ballot at their residential address. If you are registered, the San Francisco Department of Elections will automatically mail a ballot to you in early October. Your ballot includes a postage paid envelope for returning your ballot.

The pandemic means a lot will be different about voting this year. If you wait until the last minute to decide to register or figure out where your polling place is, you could discover you are unable to vote. Or you could be presented with much more complicated logistics than in previous years. Don’t despair. A voting plan is just what it sounds like: figuring out how and when one will vote ahead of Election Day. Just take a few minutes to make your plan for 2020 and #VoteSafe #VoteHealthy.

Join the League of Women Voters of San Francisco for our bi-weekly “Ask the League” Virtual Office Hours. We'll answer registration questions, discuss ballot measures, and field any questions you have about voting in the upcoming election. 

• Easy Voter Guide (League of Women Voters® of California Education Fund and the California State Library)
• CA Pros & Cons Guide (League of Women Voters® of California Education Fund)
• CA Secretary of State Official Voter Guide

To be counted, you must return your ballot on time!

If you return your ballot by mail, your ballot return envelope must be postmarked by Election Day, November 3 (check collection times if you use a blue USPS mailbox to mail your envelope on November 3). 

If your blue USPS mailbox states that the last pick-up time is 3 pm, and you drop off your ballot at 3:15 pm, your ballot will not be counted!

San Francisco provides several voting options and services to ensure that every voter can cast a ballot safely and securely, including Ballot Pick-up, Delivery and Return. 

Authorize a family member or housemate to pick up a ballot and deliver it to the voter

Beginning October 5, any registered voter may authorize a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, or person residing in their household to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot from a voting center and deliver it to them, provided the authorized person is at least 16 years old.

To authorize a family member or housemate to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot, complete a Family and Household Ballot Pickup Form (PDF) or provide a written authorization, and sign the form or written authorization under penalty of perjury, including name, date of birth, residential address, and the name of the person authorized to pick up the ballot.

To pick up a ballot, the authorized person must bring the completed form to the City Hall Voting Center, located in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on 99 Grove Street. 

Voting Center hours:  

• Weekdays, October 5-November 2, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m;  
• Two weekends, October 24-25 and October 31-November 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m; and 
• Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 
•  

To make the voting experience faster and safer, use the Voting Locations and Wait Times Tool to check wait times at the Voting Center.

Authorize another person to pick up an emergency ballot and deliver it to the voter

From October 28 through Election Day, November 3, any registered voter who still needs a ballot and is unable to travel to a polling place or voting center because of illness, disability, or confinement to home, hospital or detention center, including a voter under COVID-19 related quarantine, may authorize anyone to pick up and deliver an emergency vote-by-mail ballot to them.

To authorize someone to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot, complete the Emergency Ballot Pickup Form (PDF) or provide a written authorization, and sign the form or written authorization under penalty of perjury, including name, date of birth, residential address, and the name of the person authorized to pick up the ballot.

The person authorized will receive the ballot after presenting the signed authorization at the Voting Center (see above for locations and hours).

Authorize Department of Elections Staff to pick up a ballot and deliver it to the voter

From October 28 through Election Day, Department of Elections staff can also deliver and pick up ballots for hospitalized, homebound or confined voters. On Election Day, the Department organizes personnel dedicated solely to delivering and picking up ballots for voters who find themselves unable to make it to the polls.

To request such service, voters may call (415) 554-4375 or send an email to sfvote@sfgov.org.

Authorize someone to return a ballot 

Beginning October 5, any voter who is unable to return their vote-by-mail ballot may authorize another person to return their ballot by mail, or to any ballot drop-off box, voting center, or polling place in the state.

To authorize someone to return a vote-by-mail ballot, complete and sign the Ballot Return Authorization section on the official ballot return envelope.

Per the Deliver the Vote from Mayor Breed, you can also contact Shanti.org to get assistance with drop-off. To request this service: Text 415.449.7190 or call 415.674.4701 or visit Shanti.org

Other assistance

For additional assistance to receive or return a ballot, please contact the Department using the Department’s contact form, or as follows:  

Email: SFVote@sfgov.org
Phone: (415) 554-4375
Fax: (415) 554-7344
TTY: (415) 554-4386

Hours: Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Ranked-choice voting allows you to vote for multiple candidates, in order of preference. Instead of just choosing who you want to win, you fill out the ballot indicating who is your first choice, second choice, or third choice and so on, depending on the number of qualified candidates (up to 10), for each position. 

San Francisco voters use ranked-choice voting for most local offices, including:

• Mayor
• Assessor-Recorder
• City Attorney
• District Attorney
• Public Defender
• Sheriff
• Treasurer
• Members of the Board of Supervisors

How to mark your ballot:

Your ballot will list the names of candidates in a row on the left side of the ballot.  Across from each name will be columns for you to mark your choice.To rank candidates on the ballot, fill in the ovals from left to right:

• In the first column for your first choice.
• In the second column for your second choice.
• In the third column for your third choice, and so on.

Helpful details:

• You can rank all available candidates in a given contest. The number of rankings listed on the ballot for an office will be based on the number of candidates running for that office. In other words, ranked-choice voting contests with 10 or more qualified candidates will have 10 rankings, while contests with fewer candidates will have fewer rankings.
• You can rank as many or as few candidates as you like. Giving a candidate multiple rankings, such as first, second, third, etc. choice, does not benefit the candidate, because you can only vote one time for a candidate and only the highest ranking will count. 
• Do not fill in more than one oval in the same column. If you give the same ranking to multiple candidates, your vote in that rank and later ranks will not count, since your intent for your first choice cannot be determined. This is called an “over-vote.”
• To vote for a qualified write-in candidate who is not listed on the ballot, write the person’s name in the space at the end of the candidate list and fill in the oval for the rank you choose.

How your ranked-choice votes are counted

Round 1  
Everyone’s first-choice is counted.  (Only your first choice is counted in Round 1.) If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, an outright majority, that candidate wins the election.

If no candidate wins in Round 1, counting goes to Round 2.

Round 2

The candidate in the last place, with the fewest first-choice votes, is eliminated.  

The votes are counted again. If your first choice has not been eliminated, then your vote remains with your first choice. If your first choice is eliminated, then your vote for your second choice will be counted for your second-choice candidate. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in Round 2, that candidate wins.

Additional Rounds 

If no candidate wins in Round 2, the rounds continue until there is a winner. During each round, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and voters who chose the eliminated candidate will have their vote counted for their next choice. In other words, your second, third, fourth, and other choices will be considered only if your first-choice candidate does not win.

Example:

Round 1

Assume that there are four candidates for an elected position. The table below presents the first-choice vote totals for each candidate.

Candidate A: 475

Candidate B: 300

Candidate C: 175

Candidate D:   76

Round 2

In the above scenario, no candidate won an outright majority of first-choice votes. There were 1026 votes cast and a candidate would need 513 votes to win (50%.) As a result, Candidate D with the smallest number of first-choice votes is eliminated. The ballots that listed candidate D as the first choice will now have their votes awarded to their second-choice candidates. Assume that, of the 76 first-choice votes for Candidate D, 51 listed Candidate A as their second choice and 25 listed Candidate B. The adjusted vote totals would be as follows:

Candidate A: 526

Candidate B: 325

Candidate C: 175

On the second tally, Candidate A secured 51% of the vote, thereby winning the election.