The following is a joint message from the registrars in 11 Bay Area counties, including Marin County.
Local election officials are your trusted source of non-partisan election information. Registrars of voters around the San Francisco Bay Area came together as the Bay Area Coalition in early 2022. They did it to ensure public trust in elections by collaborating, communicating, and providing access to accurate, current, and transparent election information for the nearly five million voters in the area.
The coalition work, which includes contributions from the Marin County Elections Department, has gained national accolades from the Election Center - The National Association of Election Officials.
Tim Mattice, the executive director of the Election Center, comments: “The Professional Practices Program is a forum for local election administrators to submit successful election administration practices to the Election Center, which are rated by a committee of their peers, to which only eight are selected as the winners in respective categories. I am happy to announce the 2022 Democracy Award – representing the best practice of the year in the elections community, to Contra Costa County and the 10 participating counties with the formation of the Coalition of Bay Area Election Officials. We are proud of this effort and we celebrate their innovation and creativity in furthering excellence in the profession.”
“Speaking on behalf of all 11 coalition counties, we are thrilled and honored to have this important work recognized,” said Tommy Gong, Deputy Clerk-Recorder-Registrar for Contra Costa County. “Our hope is that this innovative method of distributing information to a large shared media market will catch on in other regions and help our fellow elections officials find other ways to share resources.”
The coalition continues to work to provide timely and factual information to residents of the Bay Area. Most recently, the coalition authored and adopted a Code of Ethics to codify the principles that election officials already follow, and to demonstrate publicly the professionalism of the work they do.
Ryan Ronco, President of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials, stated, “More than ever, elections officials need to work together, and this is a perfect example of how collaboration can benefit different sized counties in a large metro area.”
The coalition also provides the means for counties to help each other, particularly those jurisdictions that may not have the staffing or financial resources to conduct marketing or media campaigns. The coalition has created a series of fact sheets that all counties can use to educate the public on subjects such as “Voting Systems & Security in CA," “Voting by Mail is Safe & Secure," “ The Official Canvass,” and “Redistricting May Affect Your Ballot.” More Fact Sheets are planned for the future.
“We hope to continue to demystify the elections process for our residents in the most transparent and non-intimidating way possible,” said Gina Martinez, Registrar of Voters for Monterey County.
Remember, your local county election official is your trusted source of accurate election information. If you hear information regarding an election that you are unsure about, reach out to your local elections office, so they can clarify it for you. You can also refer to your county website and follow official accounts on social media. For more information, visit BayAreaVotes.org or Bay Area Votes on Facebook.