Marking Your Ballot
The Ballot Worksheet on pages 253–255 lists every contest and measure throughout the city and is a tool to help voters mark their selections in advance to save time and prevent mistakes when marking the official ballot.
If you make a mistake while marking your official ballot, you can request a replacement at sfelections.org/voterportal, by calling the Department of Elections at (415) 554-4375, or asking a poll worker or a Voting Center representative.
Steps for All Types of Contests
1. Before you mark any contest, review the instructions printed on each of your ballot cards.
2. To ensure your selections will be readable and countable, use a pencil, or a pen with black or blue ink.
3. Do not write personal information, such as your name or initials, anywhere on your ballot.
4. Fill in the oval to the right of your choice for the contest or measure, as shown in picture 1.
5. If you want to vote for a qualified write-in candidate, write the candidate’s name in the space at the end of the candidate list and fill in the oval next to the space. (A list of qualified write-in candidates will be available at sfelections.org/writein and the City Hall Voting Center starting October 28, 2022 as well as all polling places on Election Day, November 8, 2022.)
6. If you do not want to vote on a certain contest or measure, leave it blank. Your votes for the other contests and measures will still count.
Steps for the Ranked-Choice Voting Contests
In this election, voters will use ranked-choice voting (RCV) to elect the Assessor-Recorder, District Attorney, and Public Defender. Voters residing in even-numbered Supervisorial Districts (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) will also elect members of the Board of Supervisors to represent their districts.
In a ranked-choice voting contest, the names of candidates are listed on the left column of a ballot grid, with numbered rankings appearing in the top row.
With ranked-choice voting, voters rank their choices in order of preference – first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on. To rank candidates for an office, fill in the ovals from left to right, as shown in picture 2.
• 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.
Important points to remember!
• Do not fill in more than one oval in the same row. If you rank the same candidate multiple times, as shown in picture 3, your vote will count only once for that candidate.
• Do not fill in more than one oval in the same column. If you give the same rankings to multiple candidates, as shown in picture 4, your vote in that rank and later ranks will not count.
• You may rank as many or as few candidates as you like. If there are fewer than three candidates for an office, you may mark your choice(s) and leave the remaining columns blank. (In this election, there are several ranked-choice voting contests with fewer than three candidates.)
How Does Ranked-Choice Voting Work?
First, everyone’s first choice is counted.
If a candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes—more than half—that candidate wins.
If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate in last place is eliminated.
Voters who selected the candidate who was eliminated have their votes counted for their next choice. This cycle repeats until there is a majority winner.
Voters can practice marking a ranked-choice voting contest and learn how the marked choices would be counted in a real election at sfelections.org/practiceRCV.
