May 3, 2011 will be the end date for an all-mail election to fill the soon-to-be vacated seat held by San Mateo County Supervisor Mark Church. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the San Mateo County Supervisors approved the election date according to legal parameters set by State Election Code and the county’s own newly amended charter. The May 3, 2011 date was selected, according to news reports, as that date would allow the county to legally hold an all-mail election which will be far less costly than a traditional election requiring polling places and a great deal of infrastructure. Instead, the critical election will be held by mail only, spreading the election over 30 days from early April. County estimates place the cost for an all-mail election at approximately $1.1 million versus approximately $1.6 million for a traditional election, meaning the county may save as much as $500K by holding an election by mail.
According to the county Elections Office, approximately 43% of the registered voters in the county are permanent absentee voters, and thus vote by mail anyway. In the election held on November 2, 2010, 52% of registered voters requested to vote by mail and approximately 69% of these voters actually voted. For May 3, every registered voter will receive a ballot in the mail, although some could still choose to vote at the County Elections Office on Tower Road and likely some early voting stations such as City Halls in each city. But holding a mail-in Special Election may also impact how candidates campaign and perhaps even give a leg up to one candidate.
This election will likely be decided by older and more established voters. This fact may bode well for candidate Gina Papan whose name among county voters is well known but particularly among those who voted for her father, the late Assemblyman Lou Papan who was in and out of public office for more than 30 years in the county.
Nonetheless, Papan will face a bevy of candidates with their own political assets including San Mateo Union High School District Trustee Dave Pine, San Mateo County Community College Trustee Richard Holober and Burlingame Mayor Terry Nagel. Now that the Supervisorial race has an end date, the pace and fury of the contest will intensify but only after the holidays. Candidates will now have nearly four months to make their respective cases to the voters. The first test for these candidates will be the financial reports due at the end of December and made public in the weeks after that. While there are many tests ahead for these candidates, Papan just scored the first victory by virtue of the type of election that will be held.
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