Letter from the Director
Dear San Francisco Voter, September 9, 2022
The November 8, 2022, Consolidated General Election is the first election that uses the new boundaries for Supervisorial districts drawn by the San Francisco Redistricting Task Force and based on information from the 2020 decennial census. One effect is some voters may now live in a different Supervisorial district in relation to previous elections. For this election, voters in even-numbered Supervisorial districts will receive ballots that include contests for Supervisors. Voters living in an odd-numbered Supervisorial district will next vote for their Supervisors in the November 2024 election.
Visit our website for several maps that provide the new boundaries for not only Supervisorial Districts, but also State Assembly and U.S. Congressional Districts in San Francisco at sfelections.org/maps. The maps provide views that indicate the sections of the City in which voters will experience changes in their legislative districts and representatives.
You can also use the Department’s “Voting Districts Lookup Tool” on our website to know if your legislative districts have changed at sfelections.org/myvotingdistrict. The online tool provides lists of the old and new districts which allows for a quick way to determine if any of your legislative districts have changed. You can also look for your districts on the back cover of this voter information pamphlet.
Your ballot will again include two contests for the U.S. Senate as well as two contests for the Community College Board. The U.S. Senate contest appearing first will elect a candidate to serve during the new term that begins in January 2023. The Senate contest appearing second will elect a candidate to serve the remainder of the current term which ends in January 2023. The Community College Board contest appearing first will elect three candidates to serve during the new terms that begin January 2023, while the contest appearing second will elect one candidate to serve the remainder of the current term which ends in January 2025.
Returning Your Vote-By-Mail Ballot
If you drop your ballot envelope into a blue USPS box, or a letterbox, be sure to check the date and time the USPS will collect your ballot. The reason is the Department can only count ballots in envelopes postmarked on or before Election Day, November 8, 2022. You can search for the nearest USPS boxes and pickup times at usps.com/locator.
Starting October 10 and through 8 p.m. on Election Day, the Department will provide 34 official ballot drop boxes in neighborhoods across San Francisco. Any voter may choose to use an official ballot drop box to return their voted ballot. You can find the locations of the ballot drop boxes in this voter information pamphlet and on our website at sfelections.org/ballotdropoff.
On Election Day, you can also return your voted ballot to any of the City’s 501 neighborhood polling places or the City Hall Voting Center, open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Tracking the Status of Your Vote-By-Mail Ballot
Voters can track their ballots as they move through the steps of assembly, delivery, processing, and counting at sfelections.org/voterportal. Voters can also sign up to receive notifications on the status of their ballots via email, text, or voice message at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.
Accessible Vote-by-Mail System
Beginning October 10, any voter can use the Department’s accessible vote-by-mail (AVBM) system at sfelections.org/access to access and mark their ballot using their own assistive technology. After marking an AVBM ballot, the voter must print out the ballot, place it in the envelope, and return the ballot envelope to the Department of Elections, ensuring the return envelope is postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting in Person
On October 11, the Department will open its Voting Center located inside City Hall, and which is available to all voters, including non-citizen voters eligible to vote on the Board of Education contest.
The Voting Center will be open every weekday starting October 11, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., the two weekends prior to Election Day (October 29 – 30, and November 5 – 6), 10 a.m.– 4 p.m., and Election Day, November 8, 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. The Voting Center serves all City residents who want to vote in person, drop off their voted ballots, use accessible voting equipment, or, after the October 24 registration deadline, to register and vote provisionally.
On Election Day, polling places will open for in-person voting and vote-by-mail ballot drop-off services from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. The location of your polling place is printed on the back cover of this pamphlet.
For more information, call the Department at (415) 554-4375, email sfvote [at] sfgov.org, or visit sfelections.org.
Respectfully,
John Arntz, Director
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
City Hall, Room 48, San Francisco, CA 94102
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