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Online EditionSan Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet & Sample BallotConsolidated General Election
November 3, 2020

Elections and accessibility

  • sfelections.org
  • Accessibility
  • English
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  • General Information
    • Quick Guide to the November 3, 2020, Election
      • Questions?
      • Letter from the Director
      • Purpose of the Voter Information Pamphlet and Voter Information Guide
      • The Ballot Simplification Committee
      • Voter Bill of Rights
      • Elections Commission
      • San Francisco Voters Have Three Ways to Vote
      • Voting by Mail
      • Voting at the Voting Center
      • Voting at a Polling Place
      • Where Will My Assigned Polling Place Be Located on November 3?
      • Find your Polling Place Location
      • Marking Your Ballot
      • Key Facts about the City’s Voting System
      • Keep Your Voter Registration Current!
      • Voter Registration Privacy Information
      • Safe at Home Program
      • San Francisco’s Supervisorial Districts
      • Accessible Voting and Services
      • Multilingual Voter Services
      • 我們可以協助您!
      • Asistencia en español para los electores
      • Tulong para sa botante sa wikang Filipino
      • ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ သင့်ကို ကူညီနိုင်ပါသည်။
      • お手伝いいたします。
      • 도와 드리겠습니다!
      • เราช่วยคุณได้!
      • Chúng tôi có thể trợ giúp quý vị!
      • An Overview of San Francisco’s Debt
      • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
      • Stop receiving your printed Voter Information Pamphlet
      • Your Sample Ballot
      • Ballot worksheet
      • XML Streams
      • Site Guide
      • Change Font Size
  • Candidate Information
    • Candidate Information
      • City and County of San Francisco Offices To Be Voted on this Election
      • Your Candidates' Statements
      All Candidate Statements
      所有候選人聲明
      Todas las declaraciones de las candidatos
      Lahat ng mga Pahayag ng mga Kandidato
    • Candidate for United States Representative, District 14
    • Candidates for State Senator, District 11
    • Candidate for State Assembly, District 17
    • Candidates for State Assembly, District 19
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 1
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 3
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 5
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 7
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 9
    • Candidates for Board of Supervisors, District 11
    • Candidates for BART Director, District 7
    • Candidates for BART Director, District 9
    • Candidates for Board of Education
    • Candidates for Community College Board
  • Local Ballot Measures
    • Local Ballot Measure and Argument Information
      • Words You Need to Know
      Local Ballot Measures
      • Proposition A: Health and Homelessness, Parks, and Streets Bond
      • Proposition B: Department of Sanitation and Streets, Sanitation and Streets Commission, and Public Works Commission
      • Proposition C: Removing Citizenship Requirements for Members of City Bodies
      • Proposition D: Sheriff Oversight
      • Proposition E: Police Staffing
      • Proposition F: Business Tax Overhaul
      • Proposition G: Youth Voting in Local Elections
      • Proposition H: Neighborhood Commercial Districts and City Permitting
      • Proposition I: Real Estate Transfer Tax
      • Proposition J: Parcel Tax for San Francisco Unified School District
      • Proposition K: Affordable Housing Authorization
      • Proposition L: Business Tax Based on Comparison of Top Executive's Pay to Employees' Pay
      • District Measure RR: Caltrain Sales Tax

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Key Facts about the City’s Voting System

San Francisco voters began using a new voting system in 2019. Voters who will be using this system for the first time this fall may find the following information useful:

1. To mark the ballot, voters fill in ovals next to their selections.

2. All voting sites will have ballot-scanning machines and accessible ballot-marking devices. Ballot-marking devices feature: 

• Audio and touchscreen ballot formats (headphones and braille-embossed keypads are available)

• Compatibility with assistive devices such as sip-and-puff and head pointer

• Ballot secrecy and vote count security. The ballot-marking devices do not store voters’ selections; after marking their ballots, voters need to print and have their ballots scanned by ballot-scanning machines.

3. Prior to each election, the Department of Elections tests all of the City’s voting equipment to verify that this equipment is functional and generates logically accurate results. Equipment testing is open to public observation, both in person and via livestream at sfelections.org/observe.

4. No part of the City’s voting system connects to the internet or receives or transmits data through any external communication network. In an effort to provide maximum transparency, the Department of Elections publically posts images of voted ballots on its website, including information on how the marks on each ballot were interpreted and tabulated.

  • Quick Guide to the November 3, 2020, Election
    • Questions?
    • Letter from the Director
    • Purpose of the Voter Information Pamphlet and Voter Information Guide
    • The Ballot Simplification Committee
    • Voter Bill of Rights
    • Elections Commission
    • San Francisco Voters Have Three Ways to Vote
    • Voting by Mail
    • Voting at the Voting Center
    • Voting at a Polling Place
    • Where Will My Assigned Polling Place Be Located on November 3?
    • Find your Polling Place Location
    • Marking Your Ballot
    • Key Facts about the City’s Voting System
    • Keep Your Voter Registration Current!
    • Voter Registration Privacy Information
    • Safe at Home Program
    • San Francisco’s Supervisorial Districts
    • Accessible Voting and Services
    • Multilingual Voter Services
    • 我們可以協助您!
    • Asistencia en español para los electores
    • Tulong para sa botante sa wikang Filipino
    • ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ သင့်ကို ကူညီနိုင်ပါသည်။
    • お手伝いいたします。
    • 도와 드리겠습니다!
    • เราช่วยคุณได้!
    • Chúng tôi có thể trợ giúp quý vị!
    • An Overview of San Francisco’s Debt
    • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
    • Stop receiving your printed Voter Information Pamphlet
    • Your Sample Ballot
    • Ballot worksheet
    • XML Streams
    • Site Guide
    • Change Font Size

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