Join the action. #SF City Hall Drop Off Stations open until 8. On Polk/Grove St sidewalks.
#sfelections @rasmusktvu pic.twitter.com/JbEAHV5jpy
— SF Elections (@SFElections) November 3, 2015
FINALLY. After campaigns that seem to have dragged on forever, today is Election Day in San Francisco. Yay? Sure, Yay! Why not.
Though voter turnout is expected to hit an historic low, SocketSite reminds us that a total of 446,505 people are registered to vote in SF. When only 65,000 ranked-choice votes could unseat Ed Lee, it really makes you think about how few people are flexing their voting muscle!
And it's not too late to get your flex in, of course. As the SF Department of Elections reminds us, polling places citywide are open for voters from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. You can confirm which polling spot is yours here or by calling (415) 554-4375. If you can't get to your assigned location, you can also vote at the City Hall Voting Center, which is on the ground floor of City Hall. (Just remember, to enter City Hall you need to undergo a bag check, so keep the contraband at home.)
And if you want some public social media validation...
Tweet selfies with your "I Voted" sticker to @sfelections and they will retweet your photos. #SF #sfelections pic.twitter.com/yFKjhfxiAU
— City of SanFrancisco (@sfgov) November 3, 2015
You can drop your vote-by-mail ballot off at any polling place, not just the one you're assigned to, or at the Department’s Ballot Drop-off Stations outside both City Hall entrances or at the Department’s office.
If you choose to mail yours in, your ballot must be postmarked with today’s date and received by the Department of Elections no later than Friday, November 6. According to SocketSite, 70,242 of the 257,758 vote-by-mail ballots issued for today’s election had been returned and tallied. That leaves about 187,516 to go! I believe in you, vote-by-mailers! You can do it!
If you're still struggling to make a decision, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the issues by reading our Election 2015 coverage, which (jesus fucking christ) goes back to 2013. So, a) maybe just read the recent stuff and b) this is what I mean when I say that some of these campaigns have dragged on forever. Hoodline also put together an intimidatingly comprehensive election guide that breaks down who is endorsing what. When I was new to SF, I found that looking over endorsements from organizations that reflected my interests was really helpful, and maybe you will, too.
Once your decision has been made and you cast your votes, don't forget that Willie Brown, London Breed, and John's Grill are buying us all booze and lunch today from noon to 2 p.m., and 48 Hills has a running list of various campaigns' election night parties, if that's your bag.
According to the DoE, the first round of results will be released at 8:45 tonight, with numerous updates to follow. You can track the tally on this page, via @SFElections on Twitter, on the DoE's Facebook page, on SFGTV, which you can watch online or at cable Channel 26. If you're a suuuper election wonk you can even hang out in City Hall's North Light Court, where "a large screen will display SFGTV programming that will show summary results." Now that's what I call a party.
I'm not typically a fan of "let us know in the comments!" type closers, but in this case I'm genuinely asking: Did you hit your polling place today? How was it? We'd love to hear.