Department of Elections
City and County of San Francisco
John Arntz, Director

For Immediate Release
SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, October 6, 2022 – This week, the United States Postal Service will begin delivering nearly 500,000 vote-by-mail ballots packets prepared by the Department of Elections for local voters to use in the upcoming election. Each packet for the November 8, 2022, Consolidated General Election will include a five-card ballot, a postage-paid return envelope, voting instructions, and an “I Voted” sticker.

“Voting by mail is safe, secure, and reliable,” said Director John Arntz. “When you vote by mail, your vote is counted securely, your identity is kept private, and you can confirm that your ballot was counted. To increase public understanding and confidence in vote-by-mail ballot processing operations, the Department of Elections provides a page on its website, which explains all ten vote-by-mail ballot processing steps in detail. This page is available at sfelections.org/VBMjourney. Members of the public are also invited to observe San Francisco’s fully transparent ballot processing activities at the Department’s office or via livestream on sfelections.org/observe.”

On Monday, October 10, the Department of Elections will also open its accessible vote-by-mail (AVBM) system at sfelections.org/access. The AVBM system allows any local voter to download and mark a vote-by-mail ballot using a screen-reader or personal assistive technology such as a head-pointer or sip and puff. For security reasons, the AVBM system does not transmit vote selections over the internet; after marking an AVBM ballot, the user must print and return their AVBM ballot to the Department by mail or hand-delivery. 

Any local voter can track their vote-by-mail ballot from assembly up through deliv­ery, signature verification, and counting by navigating to the “Track My Ballot” tab at sfelections.org/voterportal, signing up to receive text (SMS), email, or voicemail updates at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov, or by contacting the Department of Elections via phone or email.

Any local voter who does not receive their ballot packet by October 14 is urged to call the Department of Elections at (415) 554-4375, write to sfvote@sfgov.org, or navigate to the “Request a Replacement Ballot” tab at sfelections.org/voterportal to request redelivery. Any local voter can also request a replacement ballot in person at the City Hall Voting Center.        

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Department of Elections
City and County of San Francisco
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
City Hall, Room 48
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-4375
sfelections.org