As the June election approaches, so does the time of election mailings, campaign fliers, and voter information packets. All that stuff appearing in your mailbox (or hanging from your door) can be infuriating, we know. But you can opt out of a fraction of it (just not the fraction you might prefer)!
Though there have been efforts (the most recent one we can recall was in 2014) to allow San Francisco residents to opt out of mailings from campaigns, worries about First Amendment right tussles likely prevented them from moving forward. So, per our survey from that year, 73.21% of you take those mailings straight "from mailbox to recycling bin, no stops in between."
But what about your voter information pamphlet? While many likely enjoy having the paper copy in hand, receiving that oft-substantial booklet by mail is by no means mandatory. In fact, the Department of Elections encourages you to "Save Paper! Get Your Voter Information Pamphlet and Sample Ballot Online!" on their very website.
You can, they say, read everything that would be in the pamphlet online, and if you decide you miss the paper version, you can always restart print delivery "at least 50 days prior to an election."
The deadline to opt out of getting the pamphlet for the June 7, 2016 election is April 18 — opt out after that, and you'll be un-enrolled for the following election.
You can see the DoE's FAQ on ending print delivery here, opt in or out here, and see all the June 7 election information here. Then sit back and bask in the glow of self-righteousness! Sure, the average election might kill over 1400 worth of trees in campaign mailings, but you just saved a couple by getting your voter intel online. Good work!
Previously: Just How Many Trees Have Died For This Year's Election Mailers?
Do You Bother To Read All Those Campaign Mailings?
