Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Asst. Chief Elections Officer & Asst. Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder

(Redwood City, CA) Mark Church, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, announced that the randomized alphabet drawing for the November 3, 2026 Statewide General Election was held today, Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Registration & Elections Division, located at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo.

The randomized alphabet drawing serves two key purposes in preparing the official ballot: determining the order in which candidates’ names will appear and assigning letter designations to local measures submitted to voters.

The drawing is an important step in the official ballot development process. “A randomized alphabet helps create a level playing field,” explained Church. “If we used the standard alphabet in every election, ‘John Adams’ would always appear above ‘George Washington.’”

During the process, election officials and interested members of the public drew letters from a basket to establish the randomized alphabet. Additional letters were drawn to assign a letter designation to each local measure appearing on the ballot.

The San Mateo County drawing determined the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the ballot for the following offices:

• Member of the State Assembly, Districts 19 and 23

The Secretary of State’s randomized alphabet drawing determined the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the ballot for all other offices.

“The San Mateo County drawing also determined the letter designation assigned to each local measure submitted to the voters,” stated Church.

Information about candidates and local measures is available on the Registration & Elections Division website at smcacre.gov/elections under Current Election.

Early Voting Period Begins October 5, 2026
All registered San Mateo County voters will be mailed a Vote by Mail ballot in October 2026. Three Vote Centers will open for in-person voting beginning October 5, 2026, with additional Vote Centers opening throughout the early voting period and through Election Day. 

For more information about the November 3, 2026 Statewide General Election, call or text (650) 312-5222, visit www.smcacre.gov, or follow us on X @smcvote and Instagram @sanmateocountyvote.